A Tale Of Love And Pain
by VoldemortsNipple
Summary: Serena had a rough life until moving to a new city and meeting Seiya. Seiyas had it pretty easy until meeting Serena. Seiya finds himself falling fast for Serena, but Serena needs to learn to trust. And accept the fact Seiya won't leave her alone.
1. Chapter 1

Serena Tuskino sat on her bed and stared at her new room. The walls were white, the floor was hardwood, and it was full of boxes from their move. Looking around, she took small mental notes of the room. White walls, hardwood floors, large corner window, and a decent sized walk in closet. Sighing, she opened up a box and started taking out her bedding and began putting it on her bed. She set down Luna, her little black cats, bed next to hers, and flopped back on the matress and fingered her long, black dyed hair. She, her mom, twin sister Mina, and dad had moved to San Fransisco. And so far, she was likeing it. It felt like a fresh start and she had no bad memories.

"Serena!" Minas, voice called out.

"What do you want?" Serena yelled back, rolling her eyes. Mina barged into the room, as usual, without knocking. She always does. And she wonders why Serena gets so pissed off with her.

"Do you have my flat iron?" she asked. Even though Serena and Mina were twins, they were diffrent as night and day. Mina was outgoing, smart, and athletic. Serena was more independant, quiet, and usually stayed away from people. Unfortunatly for their mom, that results in a LOT of problems and arguments.

"I don't have your flat iron. Get out of my room," Serena said.

"No need to be rude about it, I was just asking. And hows the moving in comming along?" Mina asked, walking in. Serena picked up a shoe and threw it at her.

"GET OUT OF MY DAMN ROOM!" she yelled. The shoe hit Mina in the stomach and she yelled in pain.

"You didn't need to do that!" she said, leaving the room as quickly as possible. Serena started hanging her clothes up. Tomorrow, she and Mina were going to a new school. One called Jubban High. And she wasn't really looking forward to it. She intended on spending the rest of the day fixing up her room to her tastes. She heard her dad talking to Mina.

"What happened now?"

"Serena hit me with a shoe," she complained.

"SERENA!" he yelled. "GET OUT HERE NOW!" Serena sighed. _Not again..._

* * *

Seiya Kou went over to the kitchen to make himself lunch. He had a football practice in an hour and didn't want to go on an empty stomach. Seiya was one of the best looking guys at school. He had his long black hair tied up into the usual ponytail, his football jersy, and jeans. Seiya has been, and is always athletic. He went out for almost every sport he could and was pretty good at every single one of them. Today was Wednsday and school happened to be boring that day. For the second time in the two years hes been going to Jubban High, nothing exciting had happened. There were no new rumors, no fights, no one got in trouble, everything was good. And Seiya loved mischeif, so to him, good was boring.

"TAIKI!" he yelled. His older brother Taiki looked up from his laptop. Although Taiki was the second oldest, he was about half a foot taller then Seiya and eight inches taller from the oldest, Yaten. Taiki was smarter then Seiya, Yaten, and most of the school put together. When he first entered high school, he was immidiatly put up to Junior leval. At sixteen, he was a Senior. Seiya and Taiki lived with their brother Yaten, the three of them, by themselves.

"WHAT!?" he called back.

"WHERES THE TURKEY?!"

"YATEN ATE IT ALL! USE THE ROAST BEEF!" Grumbling, Seiya took out the roast beef. He liked having turkey sandwiches before practice and Yaten knew it. Seiya finished the sandwich, grabbed a can of soda, and ran out the door down to the car.

"Where are you going?" Yaten asked. He was sitting on the curb, sketching the Golden Gate bridge. Since they lived about a mile away from it, they had some pretty good views.

"Football practice. Why'd you eat all the turkey?" Seiya asked.

"Because I can," Yaten said. Seiya rolled his eyes. Yaten was sixteen and a sophmore in high school, but still acted like a two year old sometimes. Though the three of them spent half the time fighting, they were like best friends.

"I'm going to football practice. See ya later," Seiya said, taking a bite from his sandwich and heading towards the car.

"Hey Seiya guess what?" Yaten asked.

"What?"

"I heard from Amy that theres going to be two new students tomorrow. They're girls," Seiya smiled.

"Hope they're hot," he said, turning on the car. After waving bye to him, he went on to football practice.

* * *

A/N: Rocky start, but I promise it'll be good. Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Seiya sat down in his desk and rested his head on his English book. It was almost eight in the morning and he as trying not to fall asleep. He had been rudley awaken by Taiki, who insisted on getting an early start to school. Seiya started drifting off to sleep. He shot up when the bell rang. Yaten laughed at his reaction.

"Smart," Yaten said.

"Shut up," Seiya said.

"Class, we have two new students," said Ms. Haruna their first period English teacher as the door opened and two girls walked in. Seiy was slightly taken aback by their appereances. They were the exact hight, same built, same colored skin and exact same shade of baby blue eyes. The big diffrence was their clothes. One of them was pretty and had blonde hair to her waist wth a huge red bow. She was dressed in ripped jeans and layered shirts, natural looking makeup and had a huge smile on her face.

The other had the longest hair he had ever seen, down to her butt. It was dyed black but he could tell she was blonde from her roots, where golden hair was peeking out. She was dressed in ripped grey skinny jeans, plaid Vans, and a black jacket over it. She had thick black eyeliner lining all the way around her eyes, a satin ribon with a silver skull hanging from it. She had a white studded belt resting on her hips. Her head was down and her face mostly covered by her hair. She was also a pretty girl, but she was way too skinny and had a sick looking tinge to her skin. Seiya found her intresting.

"Girls, will you please tell us your names?" Ms. Haruna asked. The happy colorful one answered first.

"My names Mina!" she said "And this is my twin sister Serena," she added, pointing to the other girl.

"Nice to meet you two. Mina, will you tell us about yourself?" Ms. Haruna asked.

"Well, we came from Seattle," she said. "and I like sports,"

"Thats nice. Serena, will you tell us a bit of yourself?"

"No," she said, walking to he empty seat in front of Seiya.

"We really want to know all about you," she said. "Why won't you tell us?"

"I don't want to," she said. The teacher rolled her eyes.

"Mina, go ahead and sit next to Yaten. Yaten, raise your hand," Yaten raised his hand. Minas eyes lit up. She tossed him a flirty smile and sat down next to him. Seiya leaned over and tapped Serena on the shoulder.

"Hey, what if someone sits there?" he asked. Serena turned around.

"Don't touch me and I don't care. They can find somewhere else to sit,"

"SEIYA! SERENA! NO TALKING!" Ms. Haruna screamed.

"No need to yell," Serena said.

"Well, I don't know how it was at your other school, but I dont allow talking during class time,"

"You weren't even talking. You were looking for something in your desk," Serena said smugly.

"Don't get smart with me young lady," the teacher said. "Or you'll be sent to the office. How would that look on your record that you got sent to the office not ten minutes into your first day?"

"Just fine and dandy," Serena said. the teacher rolled her eyes.

"I have an essay I'm going to assign you," Ms. Haruna said to the class as she began walking down the aisle. Serena stuck her foot out, causing Ms. Haruna to trip over her foot...and fell flat on her face. The class broke into laughter. "SERENA!" she screamed. "OFFICE! NOW!"

"I didn't do anything," she said innocently.

"YOU TRIPPED ME! GO TO THE OFFICE!"

"Ms Haruna, if I may object, she realy didn't do anything," Seiya said. "You must have tripped over yourself. It happens to the best of us," he added. She stared at him for a second, than sighed. She did not feel like arguing.

"Whatever," she said, getting up and passing out the essays. Seiya leaned over and whispered into Serenas ear.

"What Odango? I save your ass and no thank you?"

"Nope. Don't call me Odango or I'll kick your ass," she said darkly

"I like it. It suits you," he said.

"No it doesn't," she said.

"I think it does. Can me show you around school,"

"No,"

"Please?"

"No,"

"I'll shut up,"

"No," she said. Seiya gave up and leaned back. There was something special about her. He didn't like he way he was feeling about her, but it wasn't there, and he couldn't control it. _Oh well, _he thought_. I wont tell anybody. I'll ignore it_.

At break, Serena wandered over to a bench in a far off corner of the field and pulled out her notebook. The one she used for her songwriting. Another thing about her, Since she was young, she was always writing down her thoughts. Later on, when she was about twelve, she started organizing them into poems and songs. Surprisingly good poems and songs. Slowly her mind drifted off to that guy she sat in front of in first period. The guy seemed nice, but thats what she had thought with Diamond. Before he ruined her that is. She looked up, absentmindedly looking for her sister. Mina had, of course, already found herself a little posse and was currently chatting about whatever it was girls like her talked about.

"Hey," said a voice in front of her. It was a raven haired girl with deep purple eyes. She was dressed in a red tank top, dark jeans, and red boots. SHe had on a necklace with a big star inside a circle. She had a bright sunny smile on her face. Serena looked at her, and decided to be nice.

"Hello," Serena asked.

"I'm bored," she said. "And you looked bored too," the girl said.

"Name?" Serena asked.

"Rei. And your Serena,"

"How'd you know?" she asked. Did gossip spread that quickly around school? If so, she was in a lot of trouble. Mina did not know how to keep her mouth shut and she did NOT want people knowing what she went through back home in Seattle.

Raye laughed. "Puh-leese. Everyone here knows your name now. Everyone knows you now as the girl who put that bitch Haruna in her place," Serena rolled her eyes. Of course tripping a teacher would get you a place of honor. Especilly if nobody likes them.

"People only know me because of that? Thats stupid," Rei laughed.

"I overheard your sister saying to my friend Lita that she thinks you and Seiya would make a cute couple," she said.

"Whos Seiya?" she asked.

"That guy who sits behind you,"

"Hell no," Serena said.

"Actually hes not that bad. Hes pretty cool," Raye said. "You think hes cute?"

"No," she lied. She couldn't help but blush slightly. Hopefully she didn't notice. Wait. Why was she blushing? "Did you come here to bug me about who is hot and who isn't?"

Raye smiled. "No. Tell me about yourself," Serena stared at her for a second.

"I'm fifteen and I came from Seattle. I'm a girl," she said. This brought another giggle from Rei.

"And I just turned fifteen. I am too a girl and lived here pretty much my whole life," Raye said. Serena nodded.

"It seems pretty cool here,"

"It is. So what are you doing after school?" Raye asked.

"Nothing that I know of. Why?"

"Come over to my house. Maybe we can watch a movie or something," Serena looked hesitent.

"I'll have to call my dad..." she said slowly. She took out her cell phone and called her dad. "Dad?" she asked when he answered.

"What do you want girl?" he asked harshly.

"Can I stay after school for a little bit?" she asked.

"Only an hour. One second late and you know what will happen," he said.

"Fine," she said, hanging up. "I can go," she said to Raye.

"Cool," she said "See you after school!" Just then, the bell rang. Serena walked back in with Raye. She made a new aquatince, but she wasn't going to trust her yet. She wasn't going to trust anybody from this school or anywhere else.


	3. Chapter 3

"Serena!" Serena turned around and saw Rei running towards her. "Hey!" Rei said with a smile.

"Hey," Serena said, not even bothering to return the smile.

"So what do you want to do? Have you been to San Fransisco before?" Rei asked.

"No. I moved here from Seattle remember?"

"Thats right. Would you like me to show you around?"

"I guess. We cant go far though, I have to meet my dad here at four,"

"Strict dad?"

"Yeah. Hes an asshole. He trusts Mina completly since shes a goody goody kiss ass. He always thinks that because of the way I dress and the music I listen to, I'm going off to do drugs or drink," Serena said with an eye roll.

"Would you?"

"No. My best friend Kelly back in Seattle tried drugs. She overdosed on heroin and passed out. By the time they called an ambulance for her, she died," Rei was startled. Serena looked down so she wouldn't have to see the expression of pity that most likely lingered on Reis face..

"Oh God, I'm sorry,"

"Eh," Serena said with a shrug. "I warned Kelly not to. But she was stupid enough to go do it anyway," As she said that, she felt herself cringe. Kelly wasn't stupid and she knew it. She immidiatly regretted what she said and mentally apologized to her.

"Is that why you dont do drugs?" Rei asked.

"Yeah. Always found drugs stupid. You get all high and dont know what the hell your doing or how much your taking. Next thing you know, your either dead, knocked out on the ground, or fucking an ugly ass somebody you've never seen before in your life," Rei smiled.

"Thats a good way of looking at drinking and getting high,"

"I drink but not that much," Serena said.

"Same. My grandpa trusts me though. He says I can do what I want as long as its legal,"

"Thats cool. I wish my dad would trust me but hes an overprotective asshole"

"Arent dads usually? Anyways, Enough of this. So where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere close by because we already wasted fifteen minutes by walking. Starbucks?"

"You like Starbucks?"

"Its alright,"

"Lets go," they walked over to Starbucks, talking about Serenas big move and when they got there, they ordered their drinks.

"What'd you get?" Serena asked.

"Dude you were with me when I ordered!" Raye exclaimed

"Yeah but I forgot,"

"Vanilla bean,"

"I got Chi tea and its yuuummmy," Serena said with a giddy touch. Raye kind of rolled her eyes a bit with a smile.

"Whatever dork,"

"Don't be jelous," Rei smiled at Serena and frowned when she didn't smile back.

"How come you dont smile?"

"I don't really like to," she said. "I'm happy but its kinda hard for me to smile. I don't know why," They talked for about an hour over lots of coffecakes and refills of their drinks. By the time their hangout session was over, both of them were talking so fast, nobody else around them could understand them.

"What time is it?" Serena said, looking suddenly concerned.

"3:54...Oh crap you have to meet your dad don't you?" Serena jumped up so fast, her chair nearly fell over.

"I need to leave. NOW!" Rei, abandoning her drink, got up and ran after her.

"Serena! SLOW DOWN!" She was running surprisingly fast. Serena finally stopped.

"Oh well. I'll get grounded anyway," They still walked at a pretty quick rate back to the school. "My dads hella on time," Serena said. Sure enough, when they got to the school, Serenas dads car was parked directly in the front. Mina was sitting in the front seat reading the latest issue of Seventeen and Mr. Tuskino was staring at Serena with a harsh glare. Serena opened up the back door.

"Serena where were you?"

"Sta..."

"Its my fault Mr. Tuskino. We lost track of time," Rei said immidiatly. Serena winced. That was the last excuse she would tell her dad.

"Is this a new friend?" Mr. Tuskino asked, glare breaking into a fake grin.

"Yeah. Dad this is Rei,"

"Hi Rei. Look, Serena knows to be on time. Theres no excuses for her being late," Rei started to say something, but Serena beat her to it.

"Sorry dad. Bye Rei,"

"Bye see you tomorrow," she said. Serena got in and shut the door.

"Were you hanging out with boys?" Her dad immidiatly asked.

"No," Serena took out her black nano.

"Put that on while I'm talking and I'll throw it out the window," Mr. Tuskino said. She put it down. He glanced quickly at Mina, then back at Serena with a smile.

"How was school honey?"

"Good," Serena put the earpeices in her ears and put on Slipknot. She turned the volume at top and glared at her dad.

------------------------------------------

"SEIYA! WHERES MY LAPTOP?!" Taiki yelled, opening Seiyas door. Seiya was laying on the bed, startled to see Taiki there. Before he could close out of the browser, Taiki grabbed the laptop. "Myspace and football. Seiya, I told you, only use this for studying!"

"I am,"

"How is this studying?" Seyia gave Taiki a know it all grin.

"Lets see, right now we're in football season so I'm learning football tips. Thats studying my P.E and I'm brushing up on my spelling by typing messages. Oh, and I'm practicing my reading by looking at my messages," Taiki rolled his eyes.

"You think your sooooo smart,"

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do,"

"Did you at least do your homework?"

"Yeah," That was a lie right there. Seiya usually would just take Taikis homework in the middle of the night, since he decided to do sophmore homework as extra credit, and copy off of it. And most of the time, Yaten would be with him.

"Okay good," Taiki sat on Seiyas bed and Yaten came in with a big smile.

"Okay younger brother, it is time we have a little big smart brothers-little stupid brother talk," Seiya groaned. Since he was the youngest of the three and was constantly being nagged on by Yaten and Taiki. They were in the mindset that they were older in wiser and although he couldn't argue with Taiki being smart, Yaten was dumber then a rock.

"What I do this time?" He asked.

"Its not what you did, its that you seem to like somebody," Taiki said. Serena came to mind, but he pushed the thought away. No way she would like him.

"I don't like anybody right now,"

"Not even that new creepy gothic chick?" Taiki asked.

"Why would you think I like her? I'm not into those types of girls," At least not up untill now.

"I saw that look in your eye when she walked in. And you saved her ass when she tripped Haruna," Yaten said.

"I don't like her though,"

They both gave him the half smile they give him when they know something he doesn't want to say.

"Alright maybe a little. And why is it so important?"

"If you ask me, I don't think you should accosiate with her. She looks troubled,"

"Whats wrong with her?"

"For one thing, look at the way she dresses. First of all, she wore nothing but black-"

"Theres nothing wrong with that," Seiya interrupted.

"-and I have gym with her. Every one else was in shorts and T shirts. She wore shorts but refused to take off her jacket and got into an argument with the teacher about it,"

"She was probably cold. You know, San Fransico has cold weather and she probably isn't used to it," Seiya argued.

"Seiya, everyones doing vollyball in gym class. We do it inside and its hot as hell," Yaten said.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Shes trouble. I can see it in her. She flipped out when the teacher told her to take her jacket off, and that could be a sign that she has something she doesn't want people to see, and look at her attitude towards the teacher! My God, she tripped one!"

"Hey you laughed too," Seiya argued. "You have to admit it was funny,"

"Have you noticed her body? She's much paler then Mina. Serenas eyes look sunken in, and she's skinny as hell. Not the good thin either, anorexic thin,"

Seiya resisted the urge to scream. Every single time time he likes a girl, Yaten talks crap about her while Taiki explains to him why he shouldn't be with her.

"What about you Yaten? You seem to have gotten along with Mina fine," Seiya said, trying to steer away from Serena.

"Minas different. She looks healthy and seems to have a positive outlook on life. Serena looks like she hasen't eaten in weeks,"

"People stop talking shit about everyone I like, damn," Seiya stood up and went to the kitchin. He grabbed a package of popcorn and threw it in the microwave.

"Seiya, you need to relize-" Taiki began. Seiya just gave him a dirty look and walked out of the house.

"I'll be back later," he said. He felt irritated by his brothers. Usually, when his brothers got on his nerves, he took a quick jog. He left the house and took off around the corner.

* * *

"Serena come to my room. Now," Mr. Tuskino said. Clenching her fists, she walked to his room. He shut the door and smiled at her. "Why were you late?"

"I told you. We walked to Starbucks, lost track of time, and we ran back,"

"I don't think thats what happened. Mina was saying to her friend that an 'oh so cute' guy seemed to like you. Is that who you were with? Boys?"

"I wasn't with any guys dad!" He grabbed her wrists roughly.

"Stop lying to me whore I know what you were doing!"

"I...wasn't...Doing...ANYTHING!" she said, getting louder with each word. He slapped her accross the face hard, and she yelped.

"Don't you raise your fucking voice to me!" he said. "Peice of shit," She stood up.

"Then don't fucking touch me!"

"Talk to me nicely or I'll kick your ass right now,"

"No you won't I'll just scream and Mina will hear me," He pushed her hard and she landed against the wall. She had enough. Elbowing him in the stomach (and instantly regretting it) she out of the room and into the bathroom. Kneeling by the toilet, she fought the urge to vomit, but failed. Soon afterwards, she heard banging on the door.

"Sere! Get out I need to use the bathroom!" It was Mina. She flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth out.

"HURRY UP!" Mina yelled. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?" She threw open the door, and the door hit Mina in the face. "HEY!" she yelled.

"Your fault for being stupid enough to stand in front of the door," Serena said. She ran downstairs and rushed by her mom. "I'm gonna take a walk I'll be back in a couple hours," she said hurridly, running out before her mom can answer. She stepped outside and inhaled the salty ocean breeze. She walked down the strre slowly, trying to fight off dizziness. For about four years, her father had started taking out all his anger and frustration on Serena. And when she was eleven, he told her if she told anyone about it, he would kill her. Surprisingly, no one suspects anything. Her mom thought it was a phase, Mina was pretty sure she rebelled.

"Family pissed you off too huh?" She looked up and saw the same guy who kept her from going to the office earlier.

"Yup. Dads being an ass. Keeps nagging on me. You?" she said,

"Brothers are annoying the hell out of me. Do you even know where you are?" Looking around, she relized she had no idea where she was.

"Nope. I'll find my way back though,"

"The city isn't a safe place around this time. Why don't you chill with me for a few? Then I'll walk you home. So you won't be by yourself," She considered this. She didn't want to be with a prep, but she didn't want to get lost in some huge city.

"I guess. Just don't act all egoish and wierd," Seiya laughed.

"Nah, I just want to get to know you a bit. Name?"

"You know my name,"

"Tell me again,"

She told him her name and they started walking off slowly towards the city.

* * *

A/N: Its rushed at the end, cause I'm kinda in a hurry right now. Next chapter will be them getting to know each other. Enjoy and review!


	4. Chapter 4

"So what have you seen of our beautiful city?" Seiya asked her.

"Nothing," she said, staring at the ground as they walked.

"What do you want to see?" he asked.

"I don't know," They've been walking for about fifteen minutes and hes been hoping to get a conversation starting. Every time he asked her something, she would just give a one word answer.

"Hungry?"

"Who cares?"

"Whens the last time you ate?"

"I dont know," He looked her up and down, and saw that Taiki was right. Serena was pretty damn skinny, except for her chest. She had a yellowish tinge to her skin and looked like shes never had a good nights rest in her life. When she walked, she had her butt length hair in her face and she wouldn't take her eyes off the ground. He didn't care what his brothers though. He thought she was pretty.

"Do you like seafood?" He asked.

"Its okay," she answered quietly.

"San Fransisco has the best clam chowder and I'm hungry. Wanna go get some?"

"I dont have money,"

"I'll pay for you. Here lets take a trolly,"

"What the fuck is that?"

"Its a cable car. Instead of running on gas, it gets pulled by a cable. Heres one," he said as he led her to a stop for the cable cars. They got on and sat down. "So what do you like to do?" he asked.

"Music, myspace, and raising hell on people," He smiled.

"Like how Odango?"

"Don't call me that. Being a smart ass. Once I got expelled because I got mad at the teacher and threw my backpack in his stomach," He laughed. She looked on.

"What he do to make you mad?"

"He tried to make me go to a shrink. I told him I was fine and he kept insisting on it,"

"Did you go to a shrink?"

"Yes. She kept telling me the same thing every other shrink tells me," she made her voice high and started imitating a phsycologist.

" 'We only want to help you, your not crazy, you need to open up and stop taking stress out on yourself!' Yeah right they only want the money,"

"You should say that to the shrink," Seiya laughed and Serena gave a small smile.

"I did. She denied it. Of course," The trolley stopped and they got out. Serena inhaled the scent of the ocean and instantly relaxed. The smell of the ocean was always able to calm her down, better then all the things she usually does. He led her to the warf and they sat on a bench.

"Stay here," he said, got up and left. Serena looked around at all the happy people around her. The ocean was crashing against the rocks, people were walking around and talking, and kids were running around screaming. A small group of little boys ran past, and one of them tripped over a soda can someone had thrown on the ground. He fell and started crying. She watched for a second before sliding down off the bench and kneeling down next to the little boy and gave him a gentle hug and a bright, genuine smile.

"If your crying, you wont be able to have any fun," she said. The little boy wiped away his tears, nodded, smiled at her, and ran back to play with his friends.

"I never thought you would like kids," Seiya said. She didn't say anything. The happy glow she had on her face was gone and replaced by her her usual blank stare. He handed her a rounded loaf of sourdough bread and she looked at it with a wierd look on her face. She took her spoon and started prodding at the bread. "What are you doing?" Seiya asked, slightly amused.

"What the hell is this?" Serena asked him.

"Its like a bowl. On the top, a peice is cut out and the loaf is hollowed out and filled with clam chowder," She opened the top and sure enough, it was filled with clam chowder. She took a bite. "Like it?" she nodded, and took a few more before setting the plate down.

"I'm full," she said.

"But you barely ate!"

"I dont eat much," _I noticed,_ Seiya thought, looking at her gaunt figure. "I need to get home," she said, setting the plate aside. Without saying bye, she stood up and started walking.

"Hey! STOP!" Seiya called out. Serena stopped and waited untill he threw the remainders of the food away. He caught up with her and they started walking again. He glanced at her and looked at the sleeves of her jacket. There were rips across the sleeve, like someone had cut it up. It looked pretty cool.

"Hey that looks tight," he said, grabbing her arm to get a better look. She jumped back and pulled her arm back really fast.

"Dont fucking touch me!" she said angrily.

"Ooookay," Seiya said, backing away a bit. "Lets just go back to the trolly,"

"Whatever," They went and sat down on the trolly.

"So...wanna hang out again?" he asked her. She looked him up and down, then stared, trying to decide.

"I don't think so," she said.

"I want to show you around some more," he said. She stared at him again for a long time.

"I'll think about it," she said finally.

"So why is your sister a prep and your...kinda gothic?" he asked.

"Because. Shes a goody goody. Shes a kiss ass and she likes to preach. Its annoying as hell," Seiya chuckled.

"Odango, I know how you feel. I have a kiss ass for a brother too," she felt irritated at the name. It was too cutsey and annoying. But a small part of her kind of liked it.

"Oh really?" she asked, looking up.

"Yeah. His names Yaten. Hes usually an ass but when he wants something, he'll hella suck up to the person. And the person almost always falls for it,"

"My sister flirts like hell to get out of trouble,"

"Yaten just smiles all innocently,"

"I dont be a kiss ass I just piss em off," Serena said.

"I sometimes flirt my way out if its a girl but if its a guy then-"

"-You're screwed," Serena finished. Seiya started laughing and Serena smiled that little mysterious smile she had.

"Ever have an old guy hit on you?" Seiya asked.

"A couple times. Some sixty year old trucker and I flipped him off. Oh, and this creepy guy followed me around the fair once when I was meeting my boyfriend at the time," Seiya stopped laughing.

"You have a boyfriend?" he asked.

"No. We broke up. He was a bitch," she flinched a bit, remembering what had happened on the night Kelly died, and those two days he had took her over to his house. Those were the worst days of her life. Seiya breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Well we're here Odango," he siad as the trolley came to a stop.

"I can go from here,"

"No let me walk you there,"

"Seiya I'm fine,"

"Please? You don't know your way around. I dont want you getting lost," He insisted on walking her untill she finally agreed. They stepped off the trolley and they walked back to her house, chatting about siblings, with Serena making stupid imitations of them and Seiya laughing. When they finally got to her house, she stopped.

"I don't want my dad to see you so I'm gonna let you go,"

"What? Is he strict on you and Mina about boys?" Seiya asked.

"Not on Mina. Only me,"

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I have to go now. Bye,"

"Bye," he said, watching her go back inside. Serena ran inside and found her parents and sister eating. Her dad stood up.

"Serena where were you?" he asked angrily. As usual, he was playing caring father in front of her mother and sister. He would most likely beat the crap out of her later.

"Walking around,"

"We were worried about you,"

"No you weren't,"

"Honey we're in a new city. A big unfamiliar city you can't just wander off like that!" Mr. Tuskino said.

"I can do whatever I want!" Serena yelled.

"Serena I'm trying to be nice to you! I care about you sweetheart I dont wany anything to happen to you!" Mrs. Tuskino and Mina sat in silence eating. Serena and Mr. Tuskino often fought pretty badly. At first they tried to stop it, then they learned it was best to leave them alone. Serena became angry after he said he cared. Look at all the shit he did to her!

"You don't care!" she yelled. "I could die and you wont care!"

"Serena you know damn well thats not true! Your my daughter and I love you,"

"No. You don't love me. "

"Serena please listen to me. I don't wan-"

"I DONT WANNA FUCKING LISTEN TO YOU YOU RUINED MY FUCKING LIFE!" she screamed, running upstairs and into her room. She tore open a box and fished out a long black plastic stick with a silver plastic cap. She went into the bathroom and pulled off her jacket and took off the cap revealing a sharp silver razor blade. _You fucking liar you don't care. Nobody does,_ she thought as she dug the edge of the blade into her arm. She slowly dragged the blade across her arm and gritted her teeth as the pain shot through her arm. The pain was intense, but comforting. She sat curled up in the bathroom corner with toilet paper, mopping up the blood that streamed over all the other cuts and burns she had on her arm and checking the floor for any blood stains or splashes. She found herself thinking about all the things that had happened to her. Kelly, baby Deonna, Diamond, her father, and all kinds of other things. Serena crawled over the floor and found her box of butterfly strip band aids she normally used to bandage up her wide cuts. She remembered how her mother told her about keeping wounds clean so they wont get infected. Always wash the cut with warm water her mom used to say. With a shaky smile, Serena turned on the sink to the hot water, waited for the steam to come up, and put her cut up arm underneath the scalding water. She bit her lip to resist the urge to cry out. She had figured out over a year ago that in times of hardship, pain was the only reliable comfort she could use.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if the cutting content is too explicit. I'll update as soon as I can! 


	5. Chapter 5

Serena shakily walked out of the bathroom with her arm still sore and throbbing. "Serena..." Mina starded, looking at her with a worried look on her face.

"Don't talk to me," she said quietly, staring at the ground and sliding the box cutter in her sleeve. She felt ashamed. That was the usual routine with her cutting. First someone did something to piss her off, she cuts herself and ffels better at the moment, then hates herself for it later.

"Are you okay?" Mina asked.

"I'm fine," She said, annoyed.

"You can talk to me," Mina said. Her sister had always been a bit quiet, and a bit resentful towards everyone, especilly their dad. Then, about a year ago, Serena had gone off with her then boyfriend Diamond to some party when they were living in Seattle. She had been gone for two and a half days, and she came back a diffrent person. A quiet, tempermental person. A few months later, she had went to school, went missing for another two days, and had later been found in a parking lot by a ten year old, beaten unconcious. After a few days in the hospital, she came home completly destroyed. She had stopped eating normally, always stayed in her room, and refused to talk to anyone. Then, she lost a lot of weight, and started getting really depressed. Since then, shes never really pulled herself back up. And since she came back from the hospital, Minas been worried about her.

"I dont need to Mina," she said, going into her room and locking the door. She took the box cutter out of her pocket and stuffed it in the little hiding spot she had made in her mattress. She fell back on her bed and sighed. Luna, her little black cat she had found in an allyway, came out from underneath the bed and hopped onto the bed. Immidiatly, Luna went over to Serenas sore arm and started nuzzling it. Then, she looked up at Serena and gave her a wierd look "I know Luna...I can't help it... I'm sorry," Luna started purring and she sat on Serenas stomach. Absentmindedly, she began rubbing Lunas back. After Luna eventually fell asleep, Serena grabbed her notebook and began writing furiously in it. Untill her door was thrown open.

"Serena, come here," her dad growled. Serena dropped the pen and sat up sharply.

"Why?"

"I want to get some coffee," he said.

"No, I don't feel like it,"

"SERENA. Lets go," he said, in his pissed off girl-you-better-listen-to-me voice. Slowly, she got up and followed him out. She walked past Mina's room, not knowing it was open. All of a sudden, Mina pops out.

"Hey dad, can I go with you guys? I really want a Starbucks," Their dad stopped for a second.

"I need to have a talk with Serena,"

"Please dad? I'll listen to my iPod or something!"

"No," He said firmly.

"But dad...I want a Starbucks...and I'm sure your talk won't be so bad if I hear it," Mr. Tuskino looked at her, then Serena, then back at Mina.

"Fine. Lets go," Mina looked at her sister, noticing the sigh of relief she had made. Grabbing her iPod, Mina went downstairs after them. For the past four and a half months, Mina had suspected there was something going on between her dad and her sister. She had no idea _what_ was going on, she just had a feeling. And she felt it was something she could and should prevent.

"Shotgun," Mina said, grabbing the front seat. Serena sat in the back, put in her headphones and put on, and played Michelle Branch. The next thing she knew, the headphones were ripped out of her ears.

"Serena, you WILL listen to me, and you WILL do as I say," her dad said. Mina glanced at him from the corner of her eye and watched.

"Alright what do you want?" she said, looking like she wanted to kill him.

"Serena, you are NOT to run off like that in this city okay? This is San Fransisco, we've just moved from three states away, none of us has ANY clue where things are or how bad the city is you are NOT to leave the house unless you have me or your mother there,"

"What about Mina?"

"No. I already know whats going to happen. You'll pay her to ditch you," Her mouth dropped open, and she gave Mina an angry glare. _Stupid bitch promised you wouldn't rat me out, _Serena thought angrily. Mina turned around and gave her dad a surprised look. _How did you know? _she thought. Sometimes, when Mina is forced to go to Serena somewhere, Serena would give Mina ten bucks, scare her into not telling their parents, and they would go their seperate ways. Apperantly, Mr. Tuskino had figured out their usual plans. They pulled into a Starbucks drive thru, and they got their drinks and for some reason afterwards, Mr. Tuskino sped home like a crazy man. Serena was used to it and said nothing. Mina started screaming.

"DAD!!" she screamed. Mr. Tuskino ignored her and when they got to the house, he literaly pushed Mina out of the car. Mina looked at him with an irritated look on her face. As soon as she went inside, Mr. Tuskino took of his seat belt, turned around, and pretty much jumped on Serena.

"WHAT THE HELL?" she screamed, putting her hands against his chest and trying to push him off."GET THE FUCK OFF ME!!" Mr. Tuskino grabbed her wrists, held them down, and grabbed her neck with his other hand and started squeeznig.

"You want to scream at me like you did earlier little girl? Do it and I'll fucking snap your FUCKING NECK!" Serena, by now, was turning slight blue, and she started kicking and punching underneath him. "ST--Le..." she struggled to say. She finally managed to hit him in the face, and he sat up. She threw open the car door, and fell out, due to her position in the car. She hit her head on the concrete curb and sat up, and ran inside the house, upstairs to her room, and she shut the door. She locked it, and shut her windows. Afterwards, she found herself in a position shes often in after being scared or hurt. Curled up in a tiny ball on her bed, hugging Luna close.

"Seiya, where were you?" Yaten asked, when Seiya walked in the door. He gave Yaten an annoyed look.

"Somewhere," he said, trying to go into his room. Yaten stepped in front of him.

"Ahh ahh ahhhhhh little brother. What happened?" Yaten said, with a sneaky little smile on his face. "Looks like something happened that you dont want to tell me," he said. "So what happened when you went on your little jog eh?" he asked, blocking the way to the door.

"I went for some clam chowder okay? Now move over short shit," Seiya said, trying to push Yaten over.

"Alrighty. What happened?" he asked.

"Okay fine I ran into Serena, we went over to the warf and got some clam chowder. Happy? Now MOVE!" he said, pushing Yaten aside. Yaten just followed him, babbling on and on about why he shouldn't like such a wierd girl.

"So how is she? Answer my questions and I'll leave you alone. Whats she like?" Yaten asked, sitting on his bed.

"A bit quiet...she seems to adore kids-"

"HER AND KIDS?!" Yaten yelled. Then, he started laughing. "Seiya you can not be serious. Kids would be running away from her screaming!" he said with a smirk.

"Actually no. Some kid fell and she went over and started talking to him. They hugged each other and he left. She also looked really really happy,"

"Ooookay. Thats wierd. Is she nice?"

"Shes a bit resentful. She seems like a nice girl though. I like her,"

"Even though it seems as if she has a temper, is disgustingly skinny, wears all black, and looks ready to die at any given second?" Bad idea Yaten. Very very bad idea.

"GET OUT!" Seiya screamed, throwing Yaten out. Seiya had a feeling there was something going on with Serena...no, not a feeling, he KNEW there was something going on with her. He suddenly felt a strong determination to help this girl he barely knew. He wanted so badly for her to trust him, and for her to be happy. He set a personal goal to make her happy around him, and to bring out her good sides and her beauty starting with the baisics: her health and self confidance.


	6. Chapter 6

Serena woke up extreamely irritated. Her arm was hurting like crazy, and she was feeling dizzy and sick. She rolled out of bed, and sat up. She put Luna lovingly on the pillow and carefully tucked her in with the blanket, then went and found herself a good pair of black skinny jeans, white tank top, studded rocker belt, black and white checkered Vans, and she took out her black baggy Invader Zim jacket Kelly had let her borrow before she died.

"SERENA! PANCAKES!" screamed Mina from the bottom of the stairs. Serena sighed, slipped her box cutter into her pocket and jogged downstairs. She sat down in her chair, folded her arms across the chair an looked at Mina. This time, Mina was wearing a short orangey skirt and a white tank top, along with a dainty silver chain belt.

"How many?" Her mom asked Mina.

"Two," Her mom scooped out the pancakes, and then asked Serena how many she wanted

"One," she said. Serena took a bite out of it, and her dad came down, as usual, screaming at her. He held a squirming Luna in one hand.

"SERENA! HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO PUT THE DAMN CAT ON YOUR BED?! CATS SHED!" Serena, feeling worried that he might hurt Luna, started screaming;

"ITS MY BED WHO CARES? PUT MY CAT DOWN!"

"DO I NEED TO THROW THE DAMN CAT OUTSIDE?!"

"PUT HER DOWN!" Serena yelled, throwing herself on him. He squeezed Luna and she started hissing, and bit him in the hand. He let go of her and Luna darted upstairs. Serena chased after her, caught her, and took her into her room. After giving her a quick rub, she made her a little bed out of clothes on the floor and locked her bedroom door as she went out.

"Sere? Are you going to finish your pancakes?" her mom asked, a little but shaky from what happened.

"No,"

"Serena you need to-"

"NO!" she yelled, taking her iPod ad putting it to her ears. Her mom sighed. It worried her that her daughter and husband were always getting into fights. Serena walked out the door and got into the car. She sat in the backseat watching a little bird hopping on the sidewalk when Mina came in.

"You forgot your backpack," Mina said, tossing in her backpack. She didn't say anything. Their dad got in the car and they started driving to school. When they got to school, they grabbed their backpacks.

"Serena, stay, I want to talk to you," Serena rolled her eyes and opened the door to get out. Her dad grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

"STAY. Mina, go," Mina gave him a look, then left. Her dad turned to look at Serena. "Don't be messing with boys girl okay? I catch you with a boy and I'm going to make sure your body goes through a wall...got it?" She nodded and tried to leave when he reached over and grabbed her roughly by the neck. "NO BOYS. I MEAN IT." He said firmy, giving her throat one last squeeze before letting go. She took off from the car and ran straight into a bathroom. She clenched her teeth when she saw a huge red handprint forming around her throat. Her dad was so stupid somtimes. He was so worried about someone finding out about them but then he would go and do something so it was really obvious something happened. She took her hair and wrapped it around her neck before leaving.

"Oh look who came came crawling back up from her grave," some random guy said to her.

"Excuse me?" she said, turning around.

"You look like you crawled back up from the grave,"

"Shut the fuck up," she hissed at him, and before she could leave, he made another comment.

"Did I push your buttons?" he asked. Serena glared at him.

"Don't," she said. Mina saw this and came running.

"Lucious don't," she said.

"Not unless you want to get your ass kicked," Serena said.

"I was just kidding damn," he said.

"Don't mess with me," Serena said.

"God, I didn't think you would be such a bitch about it," he said. Serena shook her head at him and left. She sat in her chair in her English class and put her head on the desk.

"Hey Odango!" Seiya said, ruffling her hair.

"What the hell do you want?" she muttered.

"Whatcha doing?" he said. Serena rose her head up and glanced at him a but.

"Trying to sleep," she said. Seiya glanced down on her and noticed a huge red mark on her neck.

"Whats that on your neck?" he asked, reaching down to touch it. Serena jumped back so fast, she tipped over the desk and fell to the ground. Seiya laughed quietly, but continued to stare at her neck. She flipped her head quickly so that her hair covered her neck, but not quick enough for Seiya. "Whats that on your neck?" he asked.

"Nothing. It itched earlier so I scratched it," she said.

"Okay..." he said, not really believeing her.

"Alright everybody, calm down and get back in you se...Serena why is your desk on the floor?" she asked. Serena put her desk back up.

"I fell...sorry," she muttered, sitting down.

"Its okay...Well everybody, we ARE doing that project I told you about last week. I'm going to assign you all partners. I'm going to go to all the boys. Whosever name was on that slip of paper will be your partner. Now, when I hold out the box, take a paper slip okay?" She started walking around the room, handing out slips of paper to everyone. Seiya opened his and to his pleasent surprise, It was Serenas name on it. Classic. He tapped her eagerly.

"Odango! We're partners!" he said eagerly. She rolled her eyes

"Swell," she muttered. Her dad was going to kill her. "And don't call me Odango,"

"But...its so cute," he said.

"I don't care," she said.

"How about Samara?" he asked. "You know that chick from The Ring? You kinda remind me of her," Serena looked at him with a wierd look on her face.

"I guess," she said.

"STOP TALKING!" Haruna yelled. They turned around and they continued class uneventfully. At lunch, Serena wandered out underneath a tree and she took out her Nano. She layed there with her back against the tree for a bit, untill Seiya and Rei came with their lunch.

"Hey Odango!" Seiya called. They sat down next to her. "You gonna eat?" he asked. She shook her head. "I don't care," he said, handing her a plate with chow mein and veggies on it. She looked up at him.

"I'm not hungry," she said. Rei gave her a fork.

"Well, you can't go all day without eating. Eat," she said. Serena looked at the food, finally figured that they werent going to back down, so she took a few bites, then set the rest down.

"I'm okay now," she said.

"No, I want you to eat all of it. We're not leaving you alone untill you do," Seiya said. Serena narrowed her eyes.

"Leave me the hell alone," she said.

"EAT." he said, giving her a look that made her feel ashamed. She started eating the rest of the food untill it was finally gone.

"Thanks alot you dumbass. I feel sick now," she said to him.

"Well, you need to eat Serena," Rei said. "And you two got assigned as partners! Thats so cute!" Rei said. "Wait...whats the project about anyways again? I forgot," she said.

"I don't even know what its about," Serena said, stuffing her iPod in her jacket pocket.

"We have to do a report on problems in America and teens. You know, drugs, alcohol, teen pregnancy, abuse, crap like that," Seiya said. Serena sighed.

"Okay," she said. Seriously. Every time she turned around, there was something to remind her of her past. "So...when are we supposed to find time in school to do a project like that? How long do we have?"

"About two weeks," Rei said. "I'm stuck working with Yaten,"

"Dear God," Seiya muttered. Rei and Yaten both had huge mouths, each full of their own opinion (which is usually completly diffrent) They had a love/hate brother/sister relationship going, but they were always fighting. "Anyways, we would be going to each others houses, looking up shit in the library, that kind of stuff,"

"My dad would rather kill himself then let me go to a guys house," Serena said. "Or come to mine. He doesn't care if its Mina, but me? Noooo," Seiya frowned.

"Thats not right. I'll just go by when he isn't home, and leave before he gets back," Seiya said. She quirked an ewebrow.

"I guess that would be okay...if he comes, your going out the window," she said.

"That would be cool," The bell rang, so they got up and started walking back to the school. Later on, after school Serena wandered over next to Mina, who was waiting for their dad.

"Hey Sere...didn't see you for awhile," Mina said.

"Ehh...I was around," she replied.

"You were with Seiya and Rei all day, I noticed," she said with a smile. "You've made some friends?"

"I guess," she said. "Their cool. I'm kind of nervous though. Seiyas my partner for that project thing, and we're going to have to go over to each others house or to the library or soemthing to do it. I don't want dad to flip out at me," she said.

"I'll cover you, don't worry," she said.

"Yeah, like you did when I was paying you to ditch me?" Serena asked.

"I never told him that! I swear on my life, I never said a word to him," Mina said. "I have no clue how he knew that," Serena studied the look on her sisters face. She was telling the truth.

"Whatever," Mr. Tuskino pulled up into the drivaway, so they got in the car and they had a (for once in a long time) silence drive back to the house. Serena went upstairs to her room and took Luna out from under the bed. "Hey there girl," she said, hugging her. Luna started purring. Serena plugged in her nano to her music dock, put on System of a Down, and made Luna play air guitar. "MINA!" she called out. Mina came in.

"Yes?" she asked, with the phone to her chest. Figures. Of course Mina would be on the phone seconds after they come home.

"Look! Lunas a one chick band!" she said. "See the air guitar? Dunununununun," she said, making her play to System Of A Down. Mina rolled her eyes.

"Okay, stupid sister of mine," she said, with a smile. Serena sometimes would burst out with something random and stupid. She had to admit, when Serena burst out with her random little quirks, it brightened her day. After Serena was done, she took out her notebook and finished up the lyrics to the song she was writing. "What are you writing?" Mina asked suddenly.

"WHAT THE HELL? Mina I thought you left!" Serena yelled, putting the book behind her.

"Ahh ahh ahh...give it here," Mina asked, testing the waters to see if Serena was is a good mood.

"No!" she said. Mina reached over and started tickling her.

"Give me!" she said, after Serena started laughing. Mina grabbed the book and started flipping through it. "Is this music?" she asked. Serena jumped her and pulled the book away.

"Kind of...none of your buisness," Serena said.

"Do you like to sing?" Mina asked, her eyes gleaming. "I want to hear you sing!"

"No. Shut up,"

"But Sere! I beat you sound beautiful! Come on, let me hear you,"

"No. Stop or I'll throw something at you," Serena said.

"Fine," Mina said, leaving. "But I could see you as a singer too you know. It suits you...you kinda have the whole emo thing going for you,"

"GET OUT!" she screamed, throwing something at her.

"Alright!" she said, putting the phone up to her ear and started yapping away again. Serena rolled over and stared at the wall. She found herself drifting off to sleep...again. Lately, Serenas been sleeping a ton. Her mom was worried about it, but Serena liked it. It was her escape.

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REVIEW PLEASE!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Serena opened her eyes. It was night already and the house was silent except for the sound of cars outside on the streets. Grabbing her clock, she looked at the time. 4:47AM.

"Mmm," she mumbled, tossing in her bed before sitting up. She wasn't sleepy anymore. Serena needed a shower. After grabbing a few clothes from a box in her room, she wandered slowly towards the bathroom. She turned on the water, took her clothes off, and jumped in, embracing the icy water. She began scrubbing her body furiously with the soap, as sheusually does. Its a wierd little quirk of hers. Aways trying to clean her body free of the filth and scars that never seemed to fade away.

After a nice cold shower, Serena put on her black skinny jeans, black tank top, and a rainbow colored studded belt. She walked out of the bathroom towards her room...and ran right into Mina. She crossed her arms quickly to avoid her seeing them.

"What happened to your arms?!" Mina asked.

"What do you mean?" Serena replied in fear. "Nothings wrong with them!"

"The bruises! Christ girl what happened to you?" she asked, running her hands down her bruised arms

"Wrestling with Rei," she said "Dont touch me," Mina narrowed her eyes.

"Riggghhht. Well what are you doing up so early?"

"I fell asleep early so I woke up early. What are you doing here?"

"Its almost five thirty so I only have two and a half hours to shower, dress, fix my hair, put on ma-"

"Nevermind," Serena said, slipping past Mina back into her room. She grabbed the Invader Zim jacket and put it on quickly. Then, she sat in front of her desk mirror and swept on some eyeliner. After putting on the skull necklace she had gotten from the kid who had found her in the parking lot. She smiled as she remembered...

_"Here you go," the little boy said with a smile, handing her a little bag. Serena tried to reach for it, but her arms hurt to much to move._

_"I cant take it...my arms hurt," she said quietly. "What is it?"_

_"Its a present," he said. "I made it for you because I thought it would make you feel better," he said as he pulled out a necklace. It was black silk ribbon with a slver skull and crossbones hanging from the center. Serena smiled at him._

_"Why? You didn't have to," she said, touched by his kindness._

_"It looked like you liked skulls. Do you want it?" he asked. She smiled._

_"Of course I do...can you tie it around my neck for me? I cant move my arms," The boy moved her hair and tied the necklace around her neck._

_"Thank you," she said with a smile._

She tied the necklace around her neck with a sall smile, then went over to Luna.

"Hey baby," she said, petting her cat. Luna began purring. She smiled at her, filled her food and water bowl, then left her bedroom, making sure the door was locked tightly behind her. She went downstairs and grabbed herelf a few grapes. Then, she plopped down on the couch and turned the T.V on to MTV. After a few inutes, Mina came down in white pants and an orange off the shoulder top with a huge brown necklace.

"Its about seven Serena...wanna make breakfast?" ina asked with a smile.

"You go ahead...I'm not hungry," Serena said.

"Yeah you are. You didn't eat since lunch yesterday. I swear Serena if you think your fat and are doing this to lose weight-"

"I know I'm not fat!" she yelled. "I'm just not hungry,"

"Whatever you say," Mina said. She knew better then to mess with her sister. When she gets mad, she throws things and her dad throws a fit. She began chopping up fruit and Serena just stared blankly at the T.V.

"Taiki...why do we have to come to school so early?" Yaten asked with a yawn.

"Because. I'm meeting Amy here at 7:30" Taiki said as he turned the page of his new book.

"What is it a smart people date? Dude that extra half hour could be spent with me getting my beauty sleep," Yaaten said with a yawn.

"Then do what Seiya is doing," Taiki said, pointing to the back of the van. Yaten looked in the back and Seiya was passed out in the last row, snoring lightly.

"Theres Amy!" Taiki said. He grabbed his backpack and a small basket of pastries he had baked the night before and jumped out of the van. Yaten sighed and pushed his seat back. Just as he was beginning to drift off, he was rudely awaken by Seiya.

"Serenas here!" he yelled excitedly, nearly kicking Yaten in the face.

"Oh y God dude your going insane over a stupid goth chick? Dude! Shes scary as fuck!"

"Shut up or I'll hit you," Seiya said as he jumped out of the van and ran towards their car. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Serena and some man sitting in the car. It looked like they were yelling each other. Mina was walking angrily down the siewalk towards the entrance so Seiya ran up to her instead.

"Mina, whats with Serena and that guy in the car?" he asked, glancing back.

"That guy is my dad. Dont ask," she said angrily.

"Whats going on?" Seiya asked. Mina sighed.

"My sister and dad can't stand each other. They are always screaing at each other and it gets on my nerves!" she yelled. Seiya looked back to see Serena getting out of the car and running towards the back entrance.

"Why?"

"Ask her! Its her story not mine. I dont even know whats going on," Mina said as she walked into the school. Seiya turned and ran to the back entrance. He saw Serena comming out from a bathroom and waking towards the tree with her head down. Seiya jogged over to her.

"Hey Odango," she walked past him without acknowledging him. He chased after her again. "You okay?"

"Go AWAY!" she screamed, pushing him back. Seiya still followed her.

"Odango?" he said quietly. She looked at him angrily. Her eyes were red and puffy and her eyeliner was streaing down her face.

"Stay the fuck away from me! DO I NEED TO FUCKING HIT YOU!" she screamed, punching him in the chest. Seiya flinched in pain, then rubbed the spot she had hit.

"There was no need for that," Seiya said quietly. Serena glared at him.

"There was no need to follow me. Leave me alone," she said.

"No," Seiya said.

"Why? Go away," she said, turning around and purposly hitting him with her backpack.

"I dont want to see you upset," Seiya said. Serena stoped and turned around.

"I really dont think you give a flying fuck," she said.

"Yes I do," Seiya said, walking up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She tensed up and pulled herself away. "Is there any way I can make you feel better?" Seiya asked.

"Kill that bitch I'm forced to call my dad," she muttered. Seiya sighed.

"Want to go grab a coffee?" he asked. She nodded once, slightly. "We can go in the van,"

"What van?"

"The van be and my brothers use to get around. Yaten has the key. Hold on, let me get it," Seiya took off running and Serena sat down cross legged under the tree.

"Oh my God what am I doing?" she muttered. She knew better then to trust people. If her dad caught her with Seiya off of school grounds in a van with a boy he would kill her. While Seiya was gone, Serena pulled out a bandage roll and rolled u her sweater sleeve, revieling the fresh cut she had given herself in the bathroom after her dad dropped her off. After wiping away some of the excess blood, she wrapped the wound up and taped the bandage on her arm. She leaned back against the tree rubbing her sore arm untill she heard a honk behind her. Turning around, she saw a van behind her with Seiya at the wheel.

"Come on Odango before somebody sees you!" Seiya called out. Serena carefully climbed over the fence and slid open the back door. She quickly threw her backpack in, climbed in the back, and shut the door. She quickly climbed to the back where there were no windows. She sat curled up against the seat belt watching Seiya.

"Where do you want to go?" Seiya asked.

"Somewhere where there isn't that any people. I dont want to get caught," Serena said.

"Why is your dad so against you being with guys?" Seiya asked.

"Its a really long story," Serena said. "I dont want to tell you. All I'm going to say is he didn't like my boyfriend back in Seattle,"

"Are you still with him?"

"No. Hes a douche. I hate him," she said. She put her hand on her stomach and remembered Diamond with hatred.

"If you dont want to tell me something, you dont have to," Seiya said. Serena nodded. "Drive-Thru or go inside?"

"Drive-Thru please," Serena said. "Just get me a small coffee," Seiya quickly ordered the coffee, picked it up, and parked by the coffee place. He climbed over to where Serena was sitting and handed her a cup of coffee.

"Care to talk?"

"Not really. Theres nothing to talk about,"

"Can you tell me why you were crying this morning?" Serena sighed.

"My dad is nothing more then an asshole. He is holding a huge grude against me for some reason. I dont even know what I did. He treats me like shit now because he doesn't know how to deal with himself. Nobody in my house gies a flying fuck all they do is sit back and watch him treat me like shit like its some kind of show. Thats all I'm going to say." Seiya held out his arms.

"Do you need a hug?" Seiya asked. Serena lokked up at him through her hair.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He shook his head and kept his arms extended towards her.

"I think your in serious need of a hug," he said.

"No,"

"Please?"

"NO!" He kept his arms extended. Serena stared for a moment.

"Fine," she said, as she extended her arms and hugged him lightly, then pulled away quickly. Seiya smiled.

"Was that so bad?" he asked.

"Fuck you," she said with a little smile. "Can we go back to school now?" she asked, drinking her coffee quickly.

"Sure," Seiya jumped to the front seat and started the car. He drove bak to the school and he helped her out of the car. "What class do you have next?"

"Biology,"

"I have Geomety. Do you wanna meet for lunch?"

"No,"

"I want to meet you though. Eat with me and Rei," he said.

"Maybe,"

"Okay...see you at lunch," Seiya said with a small bow. Serena chuckled and ran into the school.

A/N: I put two chapters into one to make up for not updating in while =) Review please!


	8. Chapter 8

Seiya tapped his pencil lightly on his desk, trying to kep himself awake as the teacher lectured them about geometric figures. He felt himself nodding off and the next thing he knew, the teacher had slapped her ruler against his desk.

"MR. KOU!" she yelled. He jumped, startled, out of his desk. He heard several snickers behind him. "I do NOT tolerate sleeping in this class. Now sit down, open your book, and pay attention. Wipe that drool off your cheek," Seiya blushed and wiped it off. He sat down, opened his book and begun doodling. After a few minutes, the teacher slapped the ruler on his book, nearly hitting his hand.

"HEY!" he yelled.

"OUTSIDE MR. KOU!" she yelled. "AND SHOW ME THAT PICTURE!" Seiya smirked and handed her the book. It was a poorly-drawn penis with teeth, doodled in the margins. "What is that?" she asked.

"Look ma'am I don't think you want me to-"

"SAY IT OR I'LL SEND YOU TO THE OFFICE!"

"Okay its a wiener with teeth!" The class erupted with laughter.

"EXCUSE ME? A WHAT?"

"NOT THAT KIND OF WIENER! A hot dog wiener!" Seyia mumbled, his face red with holding in laughter.

"OUTSIDE! AND ERASE THIS!" she yelled, giving him the book. Seiya went outside, sat down by the door, and started erasing his drawing. As classes let out, Yaten walked up to him.

"Idiot. What happened now?"

"I fell asleep and drew a dick with teeth but told the teacher it was a wiener," he said. Yaten snickered.

"Your a dumbshit," Seiya got up, returned the book to the teacher, and walked out with Yaten.

"Look theres goth bitch!" Yaten cried, pointing to Serena. She was walking with Rei, who was showing her some new music. Seiya ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Odango!" he yelled. A bunch of people stopped and stared. Seiya felt her tense in his arms.

"Hello Seiya," she muttered, trying to pull away from him.

"Sorry Odango," he said, releasing her. She glared up at him. He gave her a loving smile. Soon her glare turned into the tiniest of a smile.

"Is that a smile I see?" Rei asked eagerly.

"Shut up Rei," she said. She turned to Yaten.

"I'm guessing your the taker?" she asked. Yaten gave her a funny look. "Huh?"

"In a gay couple, one gives and one takes. You look like you would take it all the time," she said. Seiya laughed.

"Your a bitch," Yaten replied.

"Your everybodys bitch," Serena said smugly. Seiya laughed even harder.

"Come on Yaten, you have to admit its true," Seiya said. Yaten punched him. "Hey!"

"Come hang with us," Rei said. Yaten shook his head. "Nah, I'd rather not," he said. The group started walking down the hall.

"Hey Goth Bitch, whats with the rainbow belt? You bi?" he asked. Serena rolled her eyes and grabbed Reis hand.

"Babe, do me now," she said seductivly. Rei smiled.

"Anytime. I had fun licki-"

"EW! Gross! I'm out," Yaten said, walking off. Seiya, Rei, and Serena walked down the hall.

"Lets go to our spot," Seiya said. "Here Odango I'll give you a piggyback ride," he said, getting down on his knees. She stared at him for a moment. She had never gotten a piggyback ride before and its kind of been something shes always wanted to do. She was in a good mood and so far, Seiyas been nice to her, even when she wasn't to him. She slowly slid her arms around his neck and lifted herself on his back. Seiya stood up and started running. Serena gritted her teeth and ignored the pain of her jackets fabric and Seiyas neck rubbing against her wounded arm.

"Hey!" Rei called, running after them, while pulling out a videocamera. Serena started giggling.

"Shouldn't we stop for Rei?" she asked.

"Nah she'll catch up," he said. "Watch this!" he yelled. As soon as they got to their tree, he started spinning around in circles. After a few seconds, Seiya fell facefirst on the ground. Serena rolled of his back and together, they were giggling like monkeys. Rei ran up to them, videotaped them for a second, and shut off her camera.

"This will be called 'Idiots in Action'" Rei said. Serina laughed herself to tears.

"You don't really laugh that much do you?" Seiya asked. Serena shook her head. "Well I'm glad you got a nice laugh," he said with a grin. Serena stood up and brushed grass off her jeans and sweater.

"Hey look at that," Rei said, pointing to a black stick lying in the grass beside Seiya. Seiya reached over and picked it up. Serena felt her eyes widen in shock. It was her box cutter.

"What is it?" Serena asked. Seiya took off the cover and slid the clip up. The blade pooped out the top.

"Holy shit," Seiya said, twisting it around in his hand. "What the hell is this doing here? You can kill sombody with this,"

"Put it down Seiya. If a teacher sees you with it they'll probably suspend you," Rei said. Seiya tossed it over by Serena. She stared at it blankly as Seiya and Rei began talking. She quickly grabbed it and stuck it in her pocket.

"Odango, want to come over to my house?" Seiya asked. "Or your dad will say no?"

"He'll say no," she said immidiatly.

"Okay. Its for project right?" Rei said. Serena and Seiya nodded. "Alright then. You guys can come over to my place. Work on it there. I'm with fatmouth Yaten. Serena can just come to my place. He doesnt have to know about the guys. Call your dad," She hesitated, then took her phone out and called her dad. After earning his approval, she took out a piece of paper and a red pen.

"He said yes. Seiya we need to figure out what the project is going to be about," she said. "I say it should be about abortion,"

"Why abortion? It seems kind of morbid," Seiya said.

"Because," she replied. "There are tons of teenage whores out there using abortion as a method of birth control,"

"Okay then. Whatever you want...I'm gonna get Taiki to get us some books..." he began. Rei laughed.

"Your actually going to read?" she asked. Seiya smirked.

"I never actually said I would," He pulled out his phone and glanced at it.

"Only a half hour till lunch is over. Anyone want to eat?" Rei nodded and stood up. Serena shook her head.

"Serena did you even eat anything today?" Rei asked. She nodded.

"I had breakfast,"

"Your eating lunch,"

"No I'm not,"

"Yes you are Odango," Seiya interrupted. "Now eat," Serena stood up and Seiya pulled her back down. She attempted to slap at him but he grabbed her hand and held it. "Look. You need food. You look sick. EAT," Serena glared at him. He took a forkful of broccoli from Reis lunch bag and held it to her mouth. She opened her mouth and Seiya fed her.

"Chugga chugga choo choo!" he said. Serena chewed on the broccoli slowly and Rei burst into a fit of giggles.

'Sere," she said. "You need to lighten up! Even if your home life sucks balls, you shouldn't be like that with us! We like you! We wouldn't hurt you. Be happy when your with us. Fuck your home life," Serena smiled. Maybe they will help her forget. She decided to let go a bit, but to keep them at arms length. She smiled a little more.

"Fine," she said. Seiya and Rei jumped on her with hugs.

* * *

A/N: Reviews please my loves )


	9. Chapter 9

Rei And Serena stood at the back gate waiting or Seiya. Of course, he was about fifteen minutes late. Serena slammed her fist against the gate.

"I don't have time to be waiting around for him. He needs to hurry up!" Seiya came jogging up, trying to balence his backpack in one arm and two books in the other.

"I'm sorry. Taiki was being a lazy ass while picking out the books. He was going so slow an-"

"Save it Seiya. We need to hurry and get to my place before Serenas dad calls," Rei said. "Wejust need to take bus 12. Five minute ride and a couple minute walk We need to run to the stop though" Seiya stuck his books in Serenas backpack. The trio ran to the bus stop, and made it there barely in time. Unfortunatly, the bus was packed. Serena and Seiya sat sown. Rei stood up.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round! Round and round! Round and round!" Seiya began singing. Serena began singing along and Rei stuck out her tounge. After being let out of the bus, they ran to Reis house.

"Holy crap your house is a temple?" Serena asked, gazing admirably at the beautiful Japaniese style teple.

"Yeah. I plan on being a priestess,"

"What religion are you?"

"Wiccan," she said (A/N: I made her Wiccan because I recall her in episodes praying using elements and Wicca mainly deals with the elements of nature. It seemed to fit more)

"Thats cool!" Serena said.

"First floor is the actual temple. Second floor is pretty much our house," she said, running up the steps. Seiya and Serena jogged behind her. Rei slid open the door and they walked in. Serena was mesmerized with the beautiful alters, plants, fireplaces, and symbols.

"This is beautiful," she said. She felt an aura of peace and love. She relaxed instantly.

"This is the place to come if you need to relax," Seiya said. "Its good when your stressed. This may be the place for you. Even I like to come here when I'm upset,"

"Do you mind if I come here every once in a while Rei?" Serena asked.

"Nope. Come whenever you want," she said. Serena smiled. "Lets go upstairs," they went uptairs and Rei went to the kitchen. She came out with a little old man carrying a plate of hot rols and a bow of butter. Seiya gave him a hug.

"Hi grandpa," he said.

"Sere, this is my grandpa. You can just call him grandpa. Almost everyone does. Grandpa this is my new friend, Serena," the man gave Seiya the plate and bowed to Serena.

"Pleased to meet you," he said with a smile. "Welcome. If you need anything, let me know,"

"Thank you grandpa," Serena said.vHe went back into the kitchen and Rei took them to her room. The room was huge and simple, with a low table resting in the middle and a fouton against the wall. Candles were rife among the room. Posters of different elements hung on the walls and a bookcase full of books stood in the corner. She had a stereo system by the window, and a T.V. stood in front of the table. Serena loved it. Seiya sat the plate of rolls down on the table and they began pulling school supplies onto the table. Just as they begun to work, Serenas cell phone rang. Rei dug it out of her backpack.

"Serena its Bitch Alert,"she said, tosing the phone to her.

"You don't even know the guy and you're already referring to him as a bitch?" Seiya asked as Serena flipped it open and pressed talk and left the room.

"Thats what the caller ID said" Rei replied. Serena came back in aminute later and began throwing her things furiously into her backpack.

"The bitch wants me home," Serena said. "Seiya write out an into for the project. I'll read everything and take notes," she said. She slung her backpack on one shoulder, and gave Rei and Seiya halfhearted hugs. Just as she was about to leave, Reis grandpa came in.

"Do you need anything," he asked them.

"I need to leave," Serena said. "My dads on his way," He studied her for a moment.

"I have something for you," he said. "Wait here," He left and came back a moment later with a long deep purple pouch. He handed it to her and she opened it. Inside was a crystal It was long, thick and beautifu, like a wand, and was as white as a a pearl. She was fascinated.

"Thank you grandpa," she said, giving him a big hug. "I need to go now I don't want my dad to get upset," She ran out of the temple. Reis grandpa watched after her.

"She is a very troubled one, Serena" he said out loud to himself.

"Its not because of the way she dresses grandpa is it?" Rei asked.

"Of course not. One can see it in her eyes," he said. "Bring her here often. I like her," He left.

"I was planning to. She loved the temple," Rei said to Seiya. He nodded.

"I know" he said. "Lets get back to work," he said. They began working again, silently.


	10. Chapter 10

As the weeks went by, Serena grew closer to Seiya and Rei. She slowly stopped taking her anger out on them, and found their company cheering her up. She still never told them why she disliked her dad so much. That part was something she never had the guts to tell them. Same with her cutting. Surprisingly, neither of them gave any hint of suspecting anything. For them, she tried to pull herself out of her depression, but failed every time. She found this even more depressing. She found herself going to Reis temple a few times a week. Once, after a huge fight with her father, she found herelf walking to her temple in the middle of the night. Once she got there, she cried for awhile and walked back. She told nobody about this.

As Serena lay down on her bed stroking Luna, her cell phone rang. She picked up her phone.

"Odango!" Seiyas voice rang out. Serena felt a little flutter in her stomach. Something thats been happening more as she hung out with Seiya.

"Hey dude," she said quietly.

"Why are you so quiet?" he asked. "Is your dad there?"

"Unfortunatly. But my door is locked,"

"Oh okay...I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out?" he asked.

"Where? Will Rei be there?"

"Anywhere. I kind of wanted it to be just you and me...I want to talk to you,"

"I don't know Seiya I need to get out of the house anyways...maybe I'll get Mina to come with me to the mall or something...let me ask her," She set the phone down and went into Minas room.

"Mina do you want to come to the mall? Seiya wants me to meet him there," Mina looked up from her laptop.

"I dont want you to get in trouble," she said.

"I really don't care Mina. Do you want to go or not?" Mina narrowed her eyes.

"I don't want you to get in trouble. Why do you insist on doing things Dad says not to do? Maybe then you wouldn't be getting in trouble all the time,"

"I have no respect for him and I don't care. Whatever. I'm going. I need hair dye anyways. My roots are getting too long,"

"I'll go. Maybe I can cover your ass too while I'm at it," she said, getting up off her bed. "Tell Seiya to bring Yaten," Serena went back into her room.

"Mina says to bring Yaten," she told Seiya.

"Hes comming anyways. See you there in thirty minutes," he said. Serena quckly got ready and put on her makeup. After making sure her necklace was securely fastened, she went into Minas room.

"Are you ready?" She asked. Mina nodded. "Lets sneak out so we don't have to put up with Dads bull," she said. Mina nodded. They crept downstairs and fond their dad in the back patio, smoking a cigarrete. They snuck out the door and walked towards the bus stop.

"We missed the bus," Mina said. "Maybe they can pick us up," She called Yaten, and he agreed to come pick them up from the bus stop. After picking them, they headed towads the mall. Serena sat in the back of the van, and Mina sat up front with Yaten. Seiya had moved to the back of the van to sit with Serena.

"How have you been this weekend?" he asked.

"I've been okay. How have you been?" she asked.

"Fine as you are my lady," he said, propping his feet against the seat in front of him and throwing an arm around her. He felt her tense up. "Comon Odango relax....Its just harmless flirting," he said. Serena scooted uncomfortably against the side of the van. Seiya had recently started flirting with her and she was afraid of it. She liked it, but she was afraid of it. Seiya looked at her expressions of discomfort and he took his arm off of her.

"Serena do you need anything from the mall?" Mina asked.

"Just hair dye and jackets," she said.

"You're not dying your hair black," Yaten said, looking at her through the review mirror.

"Shut the fuck up Yaten. Yes I am," she said.

"No you're not. You need a new look," he said.

"Fuck you. No I don't" she said. Yaten looked at Mina.

"We're fixing her look. Don't let her leave when we get there," he said quietly. She nodded. When they got to the mall, they all got out of the van. Serena zipped up her jacket and put her hood over her head. They walked in. Serena grabbed Seiyas arm and pulled him into the hair store. Yaten and Mina followed. Serena grabbed a box of black hair dye and walked to the counter. Yaten walked up to her and pulled the box of hair dye from her hand.

"You are _not _getting this. Either you don't dye your hair or you get different highlights. You can't be using this black shit anymore. It washes you out. Pick another color," She glared at him.

"Sere aren't you tired of nothing but all black? Come on. Let dress you up in something different. You need a change," Mina said, looking at her with hopeful eyes.

"Fine," she muttered. Seiya walked behind a rack and pulled out a small box He tossed it to her.

"You'll look good with this," he said. He tossed Yaten the box. He looked at it.

"Yaten will make you look great...you already do but yeah...." he said, smiling at her.

"What color is it?" she asked.

"Its a surprise. Lets shop," Mina said. They bought the hair dye and went walking. After they seperated, Seiya and Serena walked into Tilly's (A surprisingly large one) where she picked out a few bright colored tank tops and jeans. She walked into the dressing room and Seiya tossed her some clothes over the door. She put on a hot pink tank top and blue skinny jeans and looked in the mirror. She was surprised at what she saw. Her color had brightened up to a healthy creamy color, and she had gained weight (thanks to Seiya and Rei forcing her to eat). Her hair had gotten softer and her skin had begun to glow. Her body had changed a lot, except for her arms. She sat on the little bench and lookd at them. Her arms were slashed with old scars and new. Fresh from the morning before and old from a year ago. For a reason she couldn't understand, she threw open the curtain and pulled Seiya inside.

"Serena you cant jusss-" his voice trailed off as she held out her arms to him. She watched as the color drained from his face. He grabbed her arm and rubbed his hand accross it. She flinched and pulled her arm back and stared. She looked up at him again and wrapped her arms around his waist. She leaned her head on his chest.

"Don't tell anyone please," she said in a pleading voice. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I won't. Don't worry," he whispered, squeezing her tighter. "Don't do that...please," he said. "I don't want to see that again," he said. She nodded slightly. "Put your clothes on so we can buy you the new stuff. We can talk about it later," He stood outside the dressing room and grabbed the clothes she threw out. He walked silently and absentmindedly bought the clothes for her. He walked to the enterence and slammed his head against the door frame. Serena walked hesitantly towards him.

"I'm.....I..look dude I'm sorry," she said. Seiya didn't move. She lightly grasped his chin and pulled his face so he was looking at her. "Hey man...its just some stupid shit I do to help relieve stress. Don't worry about anything. I'm fine. I always take care of myelf," she said.

"Does Mina know about that?" he asked darkly.

"No," she said. "Don't tell her. I don't want anyone to know," she said.

"Well then why did you show me?" he asked.

"Well...I kinda trust you," she said. He sighed

"I don't want to see you hurt yourself again Odango," he said. "But we'll talk about it later...when I clear my mind," hesaid. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it," he said.

"Dude don't worry about it. I wouldn't listen anyways," she said.

"Lets just go get lunch," Seiya said.

"My treat," Serena said. "You'll be there for me right?" she asked. He gave her a small smile.

"Of course," he said.


	11. Chapter 11

"Serena hold still!" Yaten yelled, pulling her head straight. He was trying to highlight the undersides of her now completly blonde hair. "You don't want wiggly highlights do you?" Serena was getting irritated at Yatens need for perfection and his onstant yanking her face around. She was surprised that the highlighting cream was even in straight lines.

"I'll hold still when you quit yanking my head around!" she yelled. She was about a heartbeat away from punching him.

"Yaten, quit pulling her around. Its not helping," Mina said, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. They were at the boy's apartment, a couple minute drive from the mall.. Serena had been terrified to go at fist, but Mina assured her that their father wouldn't find out. Fortunatly, there was no phone call.

"Here, I'm finished," Yaten said.

"Wait your only doing the undersides?" Serena asked.

"Yup. Don't touch your hair. Wait for the color to set in. It'll take about fifteen minutes," he said. Serena stood up and walked out of the bathroom. She sat on the couch down next to Seiya, who offered her a cookie. She tried to take it from him but he pulled it away.

"Open up the tunnel, here comes the train!" He said. She giggled a bit and opened her mouth. "Choo-Choo!" he said, putting the cookie in her mouth. She smiled at him as she chewed up the cookie.

"Seiya your such a retard!" she said, choking up as she started laughing.

"Sere I haven't seen you laugh like that in a long time," Mina said with a smile. Serena stopped and smiled a bit.

"Well theres never been anything for me to laugh or smile about," she said. "And I have been laughing a lot the past nearly couple weeks. You just never pay attention,"

"Well in all the times I really watch you...which is a lot, I have barely seen you crack a smile. This is the first time I've seen you laugh since....EVER!" Mina almost yelled. She was tired of her sister pushing her family away and making her own life miserable. She loved her, but was tired of the negativity.

"Have you ever considered that there might be a reason?" Serena yelled suddenly, swallowing the rest of her cookie and standing up.

"Of course theres a reason. You just want attention!" Mina yelled back.

"No need to yell," Taiki said, walking out of his room. "I'm trying to work on my lab report,"

"Ohhh wait you think I want attention?" Serena yelled. "Look dude, I-"

"Just because you have a shitty relationship with dad doesn't mean you need to take it out on everyone. Maybe if you would stop being such a bitch for once in your life, things would be nicer,"

"I've tried that. Obviously you never noticed. Go f-"

"Oh really? When? How many times have I tried being nice to you and you start screaming or flipping out?"

"Have you ever considered that there might be a reason?" Serena yelled back, swallowing the rest of her cookie and standing up.

"Of course theres a reason. You just want attention!" Mina yelled back.

"No need to yell," Taiki said, walking out of his room. "I'm trying to work on my lab report,"

"Ohhh wait you think I want attention?" Serena yelled, ignoring Taiki. "Look dude, I-"

"Just because you have a shitty relationship with dad doesn't mean you need to take it out on everyone. Maybe if you would stop being such a bitch for once in your life, things would be nicer," Mina said.

"Well you know what? Nobody gives a fuck about me. I'm not going to be all sweet and nice to people who could really care less about me," she replied.

"Well if thats what you think then go fuck yourself and go back to Diamond. Everyone knows he loved you," Mina screamed. Silence followed.

"Don't ever say that again," Serena screamed, storming towards the door.

"Mina obviously that was unnessacery," Taiki said. Seiya grabbed Serenas arm. Serena pulled it back.

"Let me go," she growled.

"No," He said. "Come with me," He pulled her into the bathroom, shut the door, and locked it. "Look at your hair," Serena glanced at the mirror. Her hair was completley blonde, except for underneath. The highlights Yaten had done were red. She liked it.

"Yeah its cool. Can I go now?"

"Odango, please don't be mad at Mina," Seiya said. "Yo-"

"She doesn't understand. And she won't unless she sees for herself,"

"Sees what?"

"None of your buisness. I'm leaving," she said, turning around and unlocking the door.

"Don't do anything to yourself," Seiya said, looking at her arms.

"Can't guaruntee it but I'll try," she said, walking out the door into the living room. "I'll walk home," she announced to Mina, as she grabbed her shopping bags and walked out the door

"No Sere...Yatens gonna drop us off,"

"I can't be seen with a guy," she said darkly "You know that,"

"Well he'll drop us off a block away from our house. Lets go. Sorry guys for the outburst," she said. She and Serena walked out the door.

"I'm comming," Seiya said, throwing on his jacket. They walked down the stairs and a silent drive home followed. When Serena and Mina got home, they walked up the stairs towards their rooms.

"Sere, I'm sorry," Mina said. "I didn't mean what I said...you know...about you being a bitch,"

"You know what? You meant it. And its true. I am a bitch," Serena said, closing her door and locking it. She threw down her bags, shut her blinds, took off her jacket, and layed across her bed. Not to long afterwards, she heard a knock on her door. Serena put her jacket on and opened it. It was her mom. "What?" she asked.

"Its time to eat," she said. "You took that black dye out of you hair eh?" she said. "It looks good. It makes you look brighter," she said. Serena nodded.

"I'm not hungry. I'm going to sleep," she said. She shut the door and locked it. She then took Luna out from under her bed. She curled Luna up against her and fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

She woke up to the sound of her dad banging on her door.

"SERENA HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP LOCKING YOUR DOOR!?" he yelled.

"What I can't have privacy?" she yelled back.

"If you need privacy, then go to the bathroom. You can't sit locked up in your room all the time. GET OUT!" Serena grumbled to herself and got out of bed. She fed Luna, then put on her long robe over her pajamas. She opened the door to find her angry dad staring down at her. "There could be a fire, there could be an earthquake, someone can break in...how do you expect to escapse if your door is locked all the time?"

"Yeah like you'd really want me to escape," she said. She saw Mina open her door, glance at them, then walk quickly down the stairs. "Wheres mom?" she asked.

"She left early. I'm taking you to school," he said.

"Oh god kill me," Serena mumbled, trying to shut the door. Her dad pushed it open.

"DON'T SHUT THAT DOOR IN MY FACE!" he screamed, pushing her back. Serena stepped back a few steps.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!" She yelled. He grabbed her arm and pulled it towards him.

"DON'T YELL AT ME! HOW DARE YOU LITTLE GIRL!" he yelled. He grabbed her face and pulled her so her face was an inch away from him. "You don't yell at me. I am your father and you treat me with RESPECT," he yelled. He let her go and Serena wiped the spit off her face.

"In order to gain respect you must give respect," She said angrily at him, quoting a large hand carved stone that Rei's grandpa had sitting by a potted plant in their hallway.

"I don't have to gain shit. I am your dad. I provide you with everything. You respect me," he said, leaving her room and slamming the door shut. She got up off her knees and locked the door. She took her robe off and began getting ready for school. After making sure her skull necklace was securly fastened, she grabbed her backpack, locked her door, and jogged downstairs.

"So what did you do to piss him off this time?" Mina asked her as she came down into the kitchen.

"She was being very disrespectful Mina. At least you're good. Don't ever become like her," Mina and their dad stared at each other. When neither of them were looking, Serena grabbed her dads half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and stuffed it into her backpack. Without saying a word to either of them, she walked out.

"Sere come back," Mina said. "You don't need to walk! Dads taking us!"

"Fuck that," she said, slamming the door. Mina turned to her dad.

"WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!" she yelled.

"Now don't you start yelling at me," he said, glaring at her. Mina glared down at the floor.

"Come on Mina, lets go," he said. Silently, Mina grabbed her backpack and followed her father to the car.

------

Seiya finished tying his shoes and grabbed his backpack.

"YATEN HURRY THE FUCK UP!" he yelled. As usual, Yaten was in the bathroom trying to 'look hot' as he calls it.

"Tie my hair for me! I keep fucking it up," he said, holding out his hair tie. "And make sure it looks good. I'm asking her out today,"

"Who?" Seiya asked, smirking and tying the tie into a bow.

"Duh. Mina," he said, running his hingers through his long silver hair. "Get me the hair spray,"

"Get it yourself. Why are you asking out Mina? You hate her sister,"

"So? Even if her sisters a bitch, that doesn't mean Mina isn't," Seiya became irritated.

"Shes not a b-"

"Yeah she is,"

"Well you're THE bitch," Seiya said. Yaten smacked him. "And even though Mina will probably cling on to you even more than she does already?" Seiya asked.

"I'll push her off and she'll learn. What cologne should I wear?" he asked.

"YATEN. LETS GO." Taiki said.

"Yaten wants to ask Mina out. He's trying to look good," Seiya explained. Taiki rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure she isn't going to n-" Taiki and Seiya burst into a fit of coughing as Yaten sprayed on his cologne.

"Seiya lets ditch him," Taiki said.

"HEY NO!" Yaten yelled, checking his face one last time before grabbing his backpack and racing after his brothers. They opened the door to find Amy, Taikis girlfriend standing at the door. She was a sweet girl who had brains that severly competed with Taiki himself. Her hair was cut very short and constantly dyed blue. Taiki adored her.

"Hi..." She said, surprised.

"Amy!" Taiki cried with a smile. "Why are you here?"

"I left my laptop here," She said.

"Oh yeah! Here it is!" he said "In my laptop bag. Want us to drive you to school?" he asked. She nodded. They went into the van and began driving.

"Who wants music?" Seiya asked, leaning in between the front seats and plugging in his iPod.

"We're almost there. Why are you putting on music now?" Yaten asked. Before Seiya could reply, he looked out the window "Oh look its your bitchy girlfriend!" Yaten said, pointing to Serena, who was walking slowly towards the school.

"Pull over," Seiya said. Just from her walking, he could tell something was wrong. Taiki sighed and pulled over. Seiya opened the van and jumped out. "Odango! Let us drive you the rest of the way," he said, holding open the van door and bowing down like a gentleman.

"Seiya don't be such a pussy!" she said in a fit of giggles. "You're gonna get a mangina!" she stumbled over towards him. She smelled like whisky.

"Odango did you drink?" Seiya asked, alarmed. Amy leaned out of the van.

"Is she okay?" Serena slapped Seiyas arm away from her.

"I'ma walk!" she said, her voice higher than normal. She tried to walk but Seiya grabbed her and pulled her back.

"LET GO!" she yelled, trying to punch Seiya. Amy unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out.

"Serena look at me," she said. Serena turned around.

"Whaaa?" she said. "Oh its you...person I don't kno..o...oow," she said, pronouncing the last word slowly.

"Get her in the van. Shes drunk. Let me talk to her," Amy said, leading her to the back of the van. She was studying to be a nurse, and volunteered regularly at the hospital so Seiya didn't object.

"What the fuck is she doing drunk? Its like, seven thirty in the morning!" Yaten exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter what shes doing being drunk. Point is, shes drunk. Amy is she okay?" Seiya asked worridly. Amy was trying to talk to her, but she wouldn't listen.

"I want Seiya!" she kept yelling out, trying to climb over the seats. Seiya unbuckled his seat belt and crawled over the seats. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. Seiya hesitantly put an arm around her.

"Ask her if she ate," Amy asked. Seiya gently repeated the question.

"Fuck no," Serena said.

"She needs to eat," Amy said. "Food in the stomach slows down the effects of alchohol," Serena looked up from Seiyas chest.

"Hiya Ames," she said with a loopy grin. "You're the geeky one right?" Amy smiled and nodded. Serena threw her arms around her.

"Well I'm Serrrrina!" she said. Amy gently pushed Serena off.

"Serena I'm really sorry but I can't go to school smelling like alchohol. Serena merely giggled. Amy pulled out a poppyseed muffin. "Eat this," she said. Serena opened it and messily gobbled it down. Taiki pulled into the parking lot. Yaten immidiatly jumped out.

"Well Seiya, I'm not going to hang out with you and your drunk girlfriend so yeam I'm gonna go now..."

"Yaten don't you DARE tell Mina that Serena is drunk. If she asks if we saw her, say we didn't,"

"Seyia I'm gonna ask the girl out. Telling her I picked up her drunk sister won't exactly appeal to her,"

"You're asking Mina out?" Serena exclaimed, before howling with laughter. "Holy shit...hey Yaten come here," she said. Yaten rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"That girl is your queen. Nothing less. I'll kick your little pretty boy ASS if shes anything but the fucking queen," she said, glaring at him through hazy eyes.

"No probbs," Yaten said, grabbing his things and leaving.

"I have a test first period Seya...Sorry I can't stay and help out,"

"Thats fine,"

"Seiya do you want me to help?" Amy said.

"I think I can take it from here," he said.

"Okay but give her some more food and don't leave her by herself," she said. "Call me if you need anything,"

"Bye Taikiii and Amy!" Serena sang.

"Bye...fell better Serena," Amy said. They walked to the school and seperated. Seiya looked at Serena, who had curled herself in a ball and started laughing.

"God girl what did you drink?" he muttered. He opened her backpack and found the now nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels. "Holy shit how much did you drink?!" he asked, now severly concerned. Serena sat up.

"Quit yah worryin," she said as she pointed to a spot on the bottle. "Come here Seiya," Serena collapsed into his lap with her arms around his waist.

"You didn't hurt yourself did you?" he asked. He pried off her jacket and found two fresh cuts inflicted deep into her right arm. Seiya took a bunch of napkins from the door pocket and moistened it with water. He began wiping off the blood.

"Seyia you're a nurse! Serena exclaimed, going in a fit of giggles. "Don't worry about them they'll be fine," she said, pulling her arm away.

"No Odango let me finish," he said, pulling her arm back. He finished cleaning up her arm and let her put her jacket back on.

"Aren't you a dear," Serena said, leaning against Seiya again. "I wana sleep," she whispered, snuggling closer to him. Seiya was about to object, knowing that Serena wouldn't be like that if she were sober, but then decided against it, since he didn't want her to be alone. "Seiya do you hate me?" she asked. Her drunkness was starting to wear down a bit.

"No I don't," he said. "I really really like you actually," he said.

"Why does everyone else hate me?" she asked.

"Who would hate you?"

"My dad does...Mina does...my mom does...freaking everyone does Seiya,"

"No the-,"

"Seiya I'm a fuck up. I'm such a fuck up its unbelievable. You don't know dude," she said as she tried to hold back tears. _Damn you Jack Daniel_ she thought to herself. She knew what she was saying, but she didn't want it to come out. Unfortunatly for her, it was. Seiya held her tighter and she was finally able to shut herself up. She decided to let herself doze off for a few minute nap.


	13. Chapter 13

Serena was awoken by her throbbing head. She rolled over and found herself face down on a pillow. When she relized she was on a bed, she jumped up, instantly alert and heart pounding. When she started screaming, Rei and Amy ran in.

"Serena! Whats wrong?" Amy asked. Serena crawled back against the wall, trembling. "Serena you're safe. Nothing happened to you, you're fine," she said. Serena slowly looked around the room. She saw the posters of the elements on the wall, and the low table in front of the bed. She could smell the spicy smell of burning incense She was in Reis room. She relaxed and collapsed on the bed. Her head was killing her and the light was blinding her eyes. Rei sat on the bed and began stroking her hair.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Fine," she lied. "Sorry for the screaming,"

"Don't worry about it," Rei said. "You kind of scared my grandpa though," Serena felt bad.

"He's okay right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Serena tried to sit up but was overcome by a wave of nausea. Amy grabbed a trash can and Serena threw up into it.

"How the fuck did I end up here?" Serena muttered. Amy heard her and replied.

"You fell asleep on Seiya in the van. You woke up about an hour later crying and vomiting so he got scared and called us. We brought you here, Rei pulled down her bed, and you fell asleep on the bed," Serena stared at her. She barely remembered anything.

"Sere you were drunk," Rei said. Serena began to cry. Amy jumped on the bed and layed down so her face was leval to hers.

"Serena is there anything I can do?" she asked. Serena shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. She stared at Amy. _You're beatiful_ she thought, admiring Amys sweet and innocent glow.

"Thank you," she said. Serena hadn't relized she said this out loud.

"I'm fine," she said angrily, ignoring Amys thanks. "I don't need to be babysat," She sat up and was hit with a searing pain in her head and another wave of nausea. She fell back into Rei's lap. She didn't remember getting drunk. But she did remember storming out of the house with the bottle of Jack Daniels she had swiped from the counter. She remembered sitting in an ally with a shard of a broken beer bottle. She remembered slicing herself with it. She remembered taking sips from the whisky. She remembered getting a call from Haruka, her friend from Seattle warning her that Diamond, her overly jelous obsessive horror of an ex boyfriend had found out where she went to school and that she wasn't sure if Diamond would try going down there or not. She remembered punching the concrete wall of the building she was leaning against...and the next thing she knew she was waking up in a bed. _How could I have been so stupid?_ she thought. "Wheres Seiya?"

"He went to go get you a smoothie," Rei replied. Just then, they heard the downstairs door slam shut and the sounds of Seiya running up the stairs.

"You're awake Odango!" he said excitedly.

"No shit," she muttered. He handed her a styrofoam cup, ignoring her comment.

"I got you a smoothie," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

"What time is it?" she asked, wrapping an arm around his back.

"Five forty seven," Rei said, looking at the small alarm clock on her bookcase. "Why?" Serenas eyes flew wide and she jumped off the bed, knocking over Rei and Seiya in the process. A second later, a wave of nausea and head pains flew through her body.

"I need to go," she said, nearly falling off the bed. She struggled to stand and grabbed her backpack. "I need to go,"

"Why? Odango stay you look horrible!" Seiya cried, grabbing her arm.

"It wouldn't be a good idea to show up at you're house when you are barely coming out of a hangover," Amy said. Rei didn't say anything. She knew better than to argue with Serena. Rei had learned that the last thing to do was to make Serena mad. Serena pulled her arm away from Seiya and shoved him away when he tried to hold her back.

"Stay the fuck away from me Seiya," she said. She didn't mean to sound angry at him. She was angry with herself for having him see her in that state. She jogged down the stairs and nearly ran into Reis grandfather, who was comming up the stairs.

"Why are you leaving Serena?" he asked. "You don't look too well. You're welcome to stay as long as it takes for you to get better," Great. Even Grandpa knew about her little episode this morning.

"I need to get home," she said. "I'm supposed to be home directly after school unless I call my dad and ask for permission," he nodded.

"Take these and burn them," he said, handing her a small paper bag. "Its herbs that will help one overcome a hangover," _Great _she thought. _even grandpa knows._

"Thank you," she said, taking the bag and putting it in the pocket of her jacket. She gave him a quick, one armed hug before racing out the door, with Seiya at her heels.

"Odango!" he called. She ran, barely able to contain her nausea. Seiya caught up to her. He grabbed her by her backpack and pulled her back. Serena, startled by the sudden, sharp movement, leaned over and vomited on the pavement. Seiya held her hair back. When she finished, he wrapped his arms around her. He ran his fingers through her hair and toyed with the blonde and red strands. She looked up at him and pulled away.

"I'm fine now Seiya and I need to get home," she said as she tried to leave. Seiya pulled her back. "Let me go dude I'm gonna get in trouble!"

"Odango does your dad hurt you?" He didn't have to ask. He knew the answer already.

"What kind of question is that?" she asked him angrily. "Let me go,"

"You're lying," he said simply. He had no idea how he knew for sure. Maybe it was because of how angry and depressed she usually was when she just came from home. Maybe it was because of her acting like it was the end of the world whenever she was late going home. Maybe it was her paranoia of being caught by her dad with a guy. Maybe it was because she immidiatly turned to violence whenever she felt threatened. Maybe it was her cutting. Maybe it was her always wanting to avoid home. Or because of Mina's comment on how Serena had a bad relationship with her dad. Most likely because of the look of sheer horror when she relized how late it was and that heart stopping unexplainable look that flashed through her eyes for the briefest moment when he asked her the question. Seiya felt his heart stop. His grip on Serenas arm tightened. "You're not going home,"

"Seiya nothing is wrong," she said, twisting her arm away from him. "Now I need to go,"

"If you're going to get hurt then I don't want you going back there!" he said. "You can stay with me and my brothers...they won't mind you being around...they'll like you...they're already kind of starting to..." he said

"I won't get hurt," she said. "I'll be fine," he felt his eyes fill with tears. He grabbed her arm again and held her tightly.

"You are not going home," he said. "I'm not letting you get hurt,"

"I wont get hurt!" she said, voice rasing. She tried to leave, but Seiya held a firm grip on her arm.

"You are not going home. Thats final Serena. I won't let you ge-" He was interrupted by an explosion of stars. His immediate instinct was letting go of Serenas arm and rubbing the painful spot on the side of his cheek where she had just punched him. Before he relized he had let go of her she was gone.

---

Serena ran with all the strength she could gather towards home. She felt horrible about punching Seiya but it was the only thing she felt she could do to get him to let go. She hated being home and would love to live with Seiya but she had to protect her sister. She was always afraid that if she left, her dad would start hurting Mina. The only way she would leave is if Mina left first. She loved Mina. She wanted Mina to be happy. She would sooner get back with Diamond then have her sister go through any of the experiances she went through. Serena slowed down as she reached her house. She went to the door and found it unlocked. As soon as she got inside, her mom ran from the hallway and grabbed her arm. She winced from the pain of her moms fingers pressing against her arm.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN SERENA?!" she screamed. "ITS PAST SIX O'CLOCK!"

"I was at Reis," she said, pulling her arm away.

"YOUR FATHER AND SISTER WENT OUT LOOKING FOR YOU!" she continued screaming. Serena ignored her and walked up towards the stairs. "YOU'RE JUST ASKING FOR TROUBLE YOU KNOW THAT? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HOME A-"

"**MOM SHUT UP!**" Serena screamed, punching the wall behind her.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" her mom yelled. "DO YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR ME?"

"No I don't as a matter-of-fact," she said. She heard the front door slam shut. Her dad ran up the stairs, with a worried looking Mina in tow.

"SERENA TUSKINO!" he roared. "WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"I was at Reis temple," she said.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?" he screamed. He grabbed Serenas hair. She cried out in pain. "I OUGHTA BEAT THE LI-"

"DAD NO!" Mina cried, grabbing his arm and trying to pull it back. "Let her go! She was only at Reis! She told me to tell you after school and I forgot to! Its my fault..." she said, her voice trailing away when she saw the wildfire blazing through her fathers eyes.

"Ken you LET THAT GIRL GO!" their mom screamed.

"Don't you dare tell me how to raise my child," he growled.

"You will not lay a finger on her. Serena, Mina, go to your rooms. NOW. Ken, come to our room," Serena and Mina went to their rooms. Serena locked her door and took out her box cutter. She dragged it deep from the middle of her forearm to her elbow. She felt the tears swell in her eyes as she grabbed a dirty tank top to clean the blood. She then took a pill to realieve her still throbbing head. There was a knock on her door and she quickly pulled the sleeve of her black jacket down her bleeding arm. She opened the door to fine a tear stained Mina standing at her door.

"Can I come in?" she asked. Serena stepped back and nodded. Mina came in and sat on the bed. She picked up Luna and stroaked her back.

"Sere what do you think is going to happen?" she asked.

"I don't know,"

"Has he done that to you before? Grabbed your hair?" she asked.

"No," Serena sat on the bed and Mina layed her head in her sisters lap.

"Sere Yaten asked me out today," she said, suddenly changing the subject. Serena was grateful. "I said yes,"

"Can't blame you. He's pretty hot. Too bad hes a little bitch," Serena said. Mina giggled.

"Hes such a sweetheart when you get past the meanness," she said. "It was so cute. He gave me an orange rose...my favorite color," Serena smiled to herself.

"Hey Mina...promise me you'll tell me if he treats you any less than a queen," she said. "So I can kick his ass," Mina laughed.

"Yaten told me how you threatened him this morning when you were...you know...drunk," Serena grew furious.

"He told you that?!" she yelled in shock.

"Only after school when I couldn't find you anywhere. He said you were at Rei's and I forgot to tell Dad...I'm sorry," she said.

"Hey thanks for trying to cover for me," Serena said. She would have to remember to punish Yaten later.

"Anytime," Silence followed for a long time, except for the sounds of their parents fighting. "I should get to my room and call Lita," Mina said, as she stood up. Serena flopped down on the bed.

"Shes that tough burnette with the big boobs right?" Serena said.

"Yup," Mina said as she headed towards Serenas door.

"Mina?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure Yatens not gay?" Mina picked up Serenas converse and threw it at her. Serena smiled and Mina left...

---

_THE NEXT MORNING_

Mina and Serena bounded down the stairs. They ran smack into their dad flopped down on the couch staring blankly at the telivision.

"Wheres mom?" Serena asked.

"Irenes gone," Their dad said. "She left a few hours ago. DOn't expect her to be back anytime soon. Serena felt like an icy hand had grasped her heart. Mina stared at the floor.


	14. Chapter 14

"Oh heeeell no," Serena said, turning around. "She did not leave. Mom wouldn't do that. She wouldn't leave us here," she said, going to the dining table to sit down. Mina followed, not bothering to look up at either one.

"She said she couldn't handle being in a family being controlled by a meantally unstable daughter," their dad said. "All the fighting and all of the problems you cause pretty much drove her away. Congragulations Serena. Your mom left us because of you. Are you happy now?" Anger soared through Serenas body like a wildfire in a dry field. She picked up a chair and threw it into the glass patio door. Both Mina and their dad jumped at the sound of the smashing glass.

"SHE DID NOT LEAVE BECAUSE OF ME!" she screamed as tears ran down her face. Mr. Tuskino stood up, angry at his daughters actions. Before he could walk towards her, Serena lunged for him, throwing Mina off as she tried to hold her back. The force of her caused her dad to nearly topple over. She began swinging at him, only managing a couple hits to his chest before he grabbed her arms and threw her back onto the floor.

"DON'T YOU EVER GET PHYSICAL WITH ME!" he roared. Serena rubbed the now throbbing arm she had landed on and stood up, facing her father and ready to attack him again. Before she could, the sounds of Minas cries stopped her.

"Don't touch him Serena! Please!" She cried. Serena froze, turned around, and looked at Mina with eyes full of confusion, hurt, and anger.

"You're taking his side?" she said in a harsh wisper. Her voice grew untill she was finally screaming. "This guy is fucking me up and your **TAKING HIS SIDE?!?!**"

"No Sere! He-" she began, getting up off the floor and running towards her sister. Serena pushed her back.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me. HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed. Mina started sobbing.

"No! Listen to me," she said through tears. Serena grabbed her backpack and walked out the door. Silence followed after the door was slammed. Mina continued her sobbing and Mr. Tuskino walked over to the destroyed sliding glass door and brought the chair back in. He went over to try to hug his daughter, but she pushed him away. "Just so you know," she gasped. "I was not taking your side!" he folded his arms and his face hardened to stone as he stared down at her with an icy glare. As Mina cried, she finally figured out why Serena was the way she was.

Guilt and hurt burned through her as she cried. She cried harder at the memories of the rare moments where she would see her sister with no jacket and bruises covering her upper arms. She cried when she realized what Serena must be hiding under the elbow length arm socks she would wear when it was too hot to wear a jacket. All these realizations hit her as hard as the monster standing in front of her must have hit her poor sister. "You destroyed her!" she cried. "You gave her those brusies! Whats wrong with you?" she cried, looking intensely at her dad, hoping to see some regret or shame. There was no emotion.

"She defied me. She never listened and she was getting in so much trouble. That girl never had respect for any of us, never did anything good in her life. All she does is whore around. That girl is worthless," he said simply. Mina was outraged.

"Shes my sister!" she cried. "And your daughter! How could you say that?"

"Who are you to defend her?" he said. "Let her be,"

"You are the reason why mom left!" she yelled. She ran towards the door, but was pulled back by her dad.

"Where are you going?" he asked quietly. Mina started hitting his arm in a poor attempt to loosen his grasp.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed. He squeezed her arm tighter and pushed her down onto the stairs. When he knelt down beside her, he used his other hand to hold her down by her neck. When she started kicking, he used his leg to hold hers down.

"You're going to tell aren't you?" he whispered. Mina tried with all her strength and might to push him off.

"GET OFF OF ME!" she screamed. The tears were gone. Anger replaced her guilt. She clenched her teeth as her body was pushed into the stairs.

"If you tell," her dad whispered in her ear. "I'll do to your sister what I'm doing to you,"

* * *

A/N: Read and review. If you have any criticism or suggustions for the story, tell me. They will not go unnoticed =]


	15. Chapter 15

Serena watched from her tree as Mina walked to a bench near the fence. Her arms were crossed and she was staring down at the ground. Yaten was following her, rubbing her back. Serena began feeling guilty. Mina looked horribly upset. She came, finally, during fourth period and refused to look her sister in the eye, or talk to her as she usually would. Serena sighed and leaned her head on the tree trunk. Usually, she would have Rei with her as they waited for Seiya but Rei had to leave early for the weekend for her uncles wedding in San Diego. As Serena waited, she began thinking about that morning. As the guilt of her very existence set in, Serena curled into a fetal position and started crying.

"Odango?" Seiya whispered. He watched his love as she shook from the tears. He sat down next to her and allowed Serena to lay her head in his lap. He stroked her blonde and red locks as she wiped away her tears and layed there silently. "You need to cry Odango," he said. "That way you're not bottling up all your emotions," She rubbed his thigh and snuggled her face closer to his stomach. He tried to ignore the sensations tingling through his thigh where her hands had touched. _Nows not the time, _he thought, ashamed of his slightly perverted thoughts. Serena sat up onto her knees.

"I can't cry," she said quietly. Seiya stroked her cheek.

"Did he hurt you?" Seiya asked. Serena shook her head.

"No," she said "And I'm sorry about hurting you," she added as she brought her hand up to his cheek. He flinched as she rubbed her hand against it. Much to his very surprise, she sat up and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He leaned back and stared for a moment. As soon as he caught her eye, he leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. He waited, seeing if she would object. When she didn't, he deepened the kiss and rested his hand on her hip. Serena stiffened as she felt him touch her, then slowly tried to relax as she reminded herself that it was Seiya, not Diamond. She gently pushed him down and tangled her hands into his hair. Seiya moved his hands up and down her back and moaned softly when she lowered her head and began nibbling his neck. Serena sat up when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She growled as she took out her Razor and flipped it open to check her texts.

_I'm here in San Fransisco. We need to talk. Where do you want to meet?_ Serena felt her heart turn to ice. It was from Diamond.

"Seiya I need to go," she said quietly as she grabbed her back. Seiya stood up.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, concerned by the fear that had began to show on her face. Serena kissed him on the cheek.

"No you didn't," she said. "And you don't need to worry about it," she tugged down her pink tank top and zipped up her Invader Zim jacket. "Oh and Seiya?" she added.

"What?" he asked, as he got to his feet.

"You know how you said I can stay at your house?" Seiya smiled.

"Your gonna come?" he asked.

"No. Let Mina stay there. I don't want her home," she said, staring at the ground.

"Well what about you? You can stay there too," he said.

"I might. I don't know what I'm gonna do. But please tell Mina to move over to your place. I'm sure Yaten will take care of her," she felt a sense of comfort, remembering how Yaten had rarely left Minas side since their first day of school.

"Of course he will. I haven't seen him be that nice to somebody since...ever," he said with a small smile. "Hes crazy about her," Serena began walking, and Seiya tried to follow.

"Don't follow me," she said. "I need some time alone," before he could say anything else, she took off running towards the bathrooms. As soon as she got inside, she began punching the stall walls, earning herself the wierd looks from a couple girls who were in front of the mirror, applying makeup.

"Hey dude are you okay?" one of them asked. Serena sent them a cold glare. She hadn't relized they were there.

"Don't talk to me," she said, as she entered the stall. Once she was alone, she slammed her forehead against the wall. _FUCK! What am I going to do? Hes here hes fucking here oh dear God_ she thought. Serena took out her phone and texted Haruka, quiickly informing her of Diamonds prescence. Haruka had replied back immidiatly, telling her she'll come down as soon as possible. After standing alone in the stall for a good ten minutes, she slowly emerged, as she begun feeling afraid to leave the security of the girls bathroom. _Hes out there somwhere,_ she thought. She cracked open the door and looked into the mass of students. Nothing unfamiliar. _Don't worry dude Harukas comming_ she told herself. Slowly, she stepped out of the bathroom and took off for her next class. Just before she reached the door, she stopped and felt her heart go numb. There leaning by the door with his arms crossed like he belonged there was a very handsome tall...so tall that the top of her head barely reached his chin, man with shaggy white hair that stopped halfway down his neck. He was looking around. For her. His gaze stopped when he saw her and her mouth dropped open. He turned and started walking towards her, and Serena broke into a run in the opposite direction, not looking back to see if he followed. Apperantly he did. Her arm was grabbed and he walked ahead, literally dragging her behind him. Serena tried to pull away from him, but he pulled her back.

"Stop it," he growled. She obeyed and she let him take her to wherever it was he wanted to take her. To her shock, it was the same tree she had just kissed Seiya. He sat down and pulled her down with him. She sat down on her knees and glared at him. "And don't even think about running. We need to talk,"

"Look dude I'm getting my life back together. I don't need you to come back and fuck up everything I've done," she said angrily, trying to get to her feet. Diamond pulled her back down.

"You should look too. I've been a wreck since you left. I miss you," he said.

"Don't even think of trying that shit with me," she snapped. "I don't want you. I don't want anything that has to do with you. Get the fuck out of here. How dare you show up at my school!"

"You've changed," he said, looking at her pink tank top and new hair. "It looks good," Serena tried to get to her feet. He pulled her down. She punched his arm away.

"Don't touch me," she said. Diamond grabbed her wrist and squeezed it.

"Don't hit me Serena. I just wan't to talk," she twisted her wrist away and got to her feet before he could grab her.

"I have class. Go back to Seattle and stay the fuck out of my life. I'm already really late," He stood up, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist. When she struggled, he squeezed tighter.

"Don't leave me," he said quietly. "And who was that guy you were with earlier?"

"He's my boyfriend," she lied. "And unlike you he knows how to treat me," Diamond narrowed his eyes.

"So its over?" Serena rolled her eyes, and tried not to look into his eyes.

"You're a fucking idiot you know that? It was over when I found out Deonna died. Now let me go and go find a poor desperate whore," He wouldn't budge.

"You named it? You named it Deonna? What the fuck is wrong with you? You should be glad 'Deonna' is go-" Serena tilted her head and bit his arm as hard as she could. He swore and she ripped herself out of his arms and ran as hard as she could to her class. When she got inside, she sat down in the front of the room.

"Fifteen minutes late Serena? Do you have a tardy pass?" the teacher asked. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry...I was sick," she said quietly. The teacher nodded.

"If this happens again I won't excuse it," Serena nodded and tried to focus on the teacher. As soon as class was over, she found Mina and grabbed her arm. Mina jumped, saw her sister, and her gaze went immediatly to the floor.

"You okay Mina?" Mina nodded.

"Yeah...I'm fine...I'm going to the mall with Yaten after school...so you might want to go somewhere with Seiya or Rei or someone," she said quietly.

"Mina I'm sorry about this morning," Serena said. Mina pulled her arm away.

"Don't be sorry. I would've done the same thing. I'm sorry," she said, as she walked away. Mina felt ashamed to even look at Serena.

"Hey! Mina!" Serena called, grabbing her arm again. "Look at me," Mina shook her head. Serena grabbed her sisters face, and tilted it up so she was looking at her. "What happened after I left?" she asked. Mina refused to meet her eyes. Serena felt her heart pound. "What happened?" she asked again. Mina was too afraid to tell her. The last thing she wanted to do was give her sister another thing to worry about.

"Nothing happened! I'll see you when I get home from the mall," she said, as she left, joining Yaten, who had been waiting for her by her locker. Serena clenched her teeth. Something _did_ happen with Mina and her dad. She never felt so hurt and selfish in her life.

After school was over, Serena stood outside at the corner, wondering where Diamond was. Diamond would not give up as easily as he appeared to. Serena knew him too well. Diamond is the kind to pop out of nowhere, disappear, then pop up again. She took out her phone and sent a quick text to Seiya, warning him to stay away from the tall dark eyed white haired monster. Seiya, being his now overconcerned self, replied back immediatly wondering who he was and what was going on. All she told him was that he was her ex, and not someone to mess with. She put her phone in her pocket and ignored her text alerts. When her dad pulled up, Serena got into the back seat.

"Wheres Mina?" her dad asked.

"I don't know," she replied "She went off with friends," her dad sighed, then pulled away from the curb. After a few minutes of silence, Serena spoke up.

"What the FUCK did you do to her?" she asked with venom dripping from her voice.

"That is not your concern. Why did you tell her?"

"I didn't tell her shit! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" she screamed.

"I did nothing," he said.

"Why did she show up so late? Why can't she look at me? What happened?" she yelled. Her dad remained silent untill they pulled into the driveway of their house. "I'm not leaving untill you tell me what happened," she said. He jumped behind into the backseat and pushed her head against the window. She cried out in pain.

"You want to know what I did? I kept her from telling thats what I did. Now get the fuck out of my car," he opened up the door, sat up, and pushed Serena out of the car. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the door. She turned around and glared at her dad, who pulled out and drove away. Serena sighed, opened the door shut and locked it, then ran up the stairs to her room. She shut the door and looked at herself in her mirror. As she tried to bite back her tears, she went to her mattress, dug out her box cutter, then went into the bathroom and shut the door.


	16. Chapter 16

Mina sat in the passenger seat of the van, watching Yaten as he drove to the mall. She was still numb and sore from what had happened earlier that morning and was too ashamed of herself to even look at anyone, especilly Serena. She wasn't as ashamed of being taken advantage of by her own father then she was of not relizing what had been going on between him and Serena. She wanted to tell someone so bad, so she can get that monster out of her sisters life. But she didn't want Serena to suffer the same fate. Then again, she would make sure their dad wouldn't have the chance to do the same for Serena.

"Yaten?" she asked, speaking to him for the first time that day.

"Yes?" he asked as he quickly pulled into a parking space. "You ready to talk?"

"Kind of...what would happen if someone was being abused and they went and told the police?"

"If it was something that was for sure, the person would probably be taken somewhere safe immediatly by CPS...why?" Mina started crying and Yaten, fearing the worst, grabbed her hand. "Why? Your not being abused are you?" Mina shook her head.

"Serena i-is," she said through her tears. She wouldn't keep quiet like her sister did. She didn't want Serena to be hurt anymore, and she would make sure that Serena and her dad never saw each other again. She looked up to see Yaten frowning.

"What do you mean shes being abused?" he asked.

"She h-has b..bruises," she struggled to say. "My dad hits her," she slammed her head back against the cushioned seat behind her and wiped her eyes. "I was too stupid to notice anything untill this morning...I figured it out," Yatens mouth dropped open. _That would explain a lot,_ he thought.

"Are you sure Mina? Accusing your dad of abuse i-"

"I'M SURE OF IT!" she yelled, then broke out in a new wave of tears. "I left her at school and I don't know where she...she could have went with him," she said. "Yaten I'm so fucking stupid," she cried. "Take me home," Yaten silently pulled out of the parking lot. He didn't know what to say to Mina or even think to himself. He looked at Mina, who was staring blankly out the window. Yatens phone rang and he answered it.

"Whats up Seiya?" Mina looked at him.

"Ask him if Serenas with him," Yaten repeated the question, then shook his head.

"Shes not...and Seiya wants to know who Diamond is. Apperantly Serena warned him to stay away from him, and Seiyas been trying to text her for the last forty five minutes asking why and whats going on but she hasn't been replying,"

"Diamonds her ex boyfriend back in Seattle. He was kind of obsessed with her...never liked him he was kind of freaky...and she broke up with him before we moved here," Yaten repeated this to Seiya.

"Have you heard from her Mina?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I texted her a couple times but she didn't reply," Mina suddenly felt a wave of anxiety rush through her body. Something wasn't right. "Yaten hurry up I think we need to get home," she said.

"Seiya I gotta go...call if you hear from her," he said as he hung up. Mina gave him directions to her house. She tried to call Serenas cell phone, but got no answer.

"Yaten HURRY!" she yelled.

"I'm going as fast as I can! Calm down," he said. A few minutes later, they pulled into the driveway. Mina threw open the door and found the front door unlocked.

"Shes here! SERENA!" she yelled into the house. No answer.

"Mina calm down!" Yaten said as he followed her in. "What happened there?" he asked, pointing to the smashed sliding glass door. "I think somebody bro-"

"No Serena did that this morning with a chair...SERENA!" she screamed. Again, no answer. Mina ran up the stairs, leaving Yaten, who was staring at the sliding glass door with shock, behind. She threw open Serenas bedroom door and found it empty. "SERENA!" she screamed. She tried to open the bathroom only to find it locked. She put her ear against the door. The only thing she heard was the sound of running water. She started banging on the door and trying to twist the doorknob open. "SERENA!" she screamed again. Yaten came up the stairs.

"Is she in there?"

"Yeah but the door is locked...help me open it," she cried as she began punching the door.

"Well its locked so-"

"Then help me break it open," she said, as she started kicking it. Yaten came behind her and punched the door as hard as he could...so hard, his fist went through. Mina began ripping apart the chunks of wood. When there was a big enough hole, she reached her arm through and unlocked the door. When she threw it open, she felt her heart and everything around her stop. Serena was laying very pale and motionless in the bathtub full of water. The tub faucet was still on. The water in the tub was swirling with light red. Both of them were too shocked to move.

"Oh my...." Yatens voice trailed off before he could finish.

"Oh dear God SERENA!" she screamed, rushing to the bathtub to pull her out. "Shes too heavy! Yaten help me!" Yaten, who was now nearly as pale as Serena was, ran over and helped his girlfriend pull her out of the tub. "Call somebody," Mina begged, cradling Serena in her lap. Yaten nodded silently, and took off his jacket.

"Stop the bleeding," he said in a dazed voice as he tossed her and ran downstairs to call an ambulence. Mina picked up Serenas left arm and saw a long, deep cut streching from the bottom of her hand to halfway up her arm. Blood was seeping rapidly out of the wound. Mina grabbed Serenas jacket, which had been thrown on the floor, and wrapped it around the cut, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. "Please Sere I don't want you to die," she cried quietly. Through her tears, she saw that her fears had been confirmed. There were large bruises in a variety of colors on Serenas upper arms. When she moved the jacket, she found cuts of all sizes. Some were old scars, some were healed, and some were fresh. The old cuts were quickly covered by the blood seeping out of the wound. Mina quickly covered it again. Yaten soon came running upstairs.

"An ambulence is on the way...is she responding?" Mina shook her sister.

"Sere? Serena you there?" she asked. She grabbed Serenas right hand and squeezed it. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me," Serena managed to faintly squeeze Minas hand.

"She squeezed my hand but barely," Hearing the sounds of sirens sounded like an angel singing down from heaven to Mina. Yaten ran downstairs to direct the paramedics. The paramedics carried Serena downstairs and layed her out on the strecher. As they began hooking up IVs, Mina grabbed one of them.

"Is she gonna die?" she asked quietly.

"If we get her to the hospital quickly enough, she won't," he said. Mina cried and slammed her forehead against the wall. "Let me go with her!" she yelled, trying to climb into the ambulence. Yaten held her back.

"We'll drive to the hospital," he said. Yaten felt sick. He felt like he was on autopilot and the only thing he could think of doing was calming down the frantic Mina. As the ambulence drove away, Mina pulled Yaten to the car.

"Lets go. Now," she said. Yaten nodded and they got into the car. They drove quickly into the hospital and entered the emergency ward. After the nurse showing the frantic couple to the waiting room, Yaten decided he should text Seiya. After sending him a quick text, he pulled the crying Mina into his lap and cradled her.

--------------------

Seiya had been all over the school looking for Serena. He was beginning to worry about Diamonds prescence. From what Serena and Mina said about him, he seemed like he would be dangerous. So far, Seiya had not seen anyone who matched the description Serena had given him. Seiya felt his phone vibrate, and he quickly took it out, hoping it was from Serena. It was from Yaten.

_Serena tried to kill herself. Come to the hospital NOW._

Seiya felt his heart sank. He failed her. He failed his love.

* * *

A/N: Don't forget to review and give me advice =]


	17. Chapter 17

Seiya ran through the doors of the E.R. He went into the waiting room, where he found a crying Mina and a dazed looking Yaten. His heart sank when he saw blood smeared on both of their clothes.

"What happened? Is she okay? Whats going on?" he cried, fearing among the worst. "Is she...."

"She tried to slit her wrists," Yaten said in a monotone. "We found her in the bathtub...they haven't said anything about...it yet," Seiya slumped down into the hard plastic chair next to Mina.

"Is she going to-"

"I don't know," Mina sobbed. "Seiya she was bleeding so much..." Seiya felt tears beginning to build up. He finally ended the long period of silence that had followed by slammed his fist on the small table next to him.

"She can't die," he roared, causing Mina, Yaten, and other E.R visitors to jump. "She can't fucking die!" Yaten stood up.

"Seiya I-"

"Don't even try to say anything. You hated her," he cried. Yatens eyes narrowed.

"I did NOT fucking hate her Seiya. I made fun of her and I was an ass to her but that does NOT mean I hate her. I care about her so don't even try to go there," He growled. Seiya leaned his forhead against Yatens shoulder and started to cry, much to Yatens surprise. Seiya almost never cried, and he especilly never turned to Yaten for comfort.

"How could she fucking do this?" he cried, in hurt and disbelief. He loved Serena. So did Rei, and Mina, and Amy and his brothers. How could she try to run out like this?

"I wish I could answer," Yaten said. They sat down on the chairs and waited for news. Seiya stood up, and walked outside the hospital. About a half hour later, he came back in.

"I called Rei," He said. "She said she would leave as soon as possible...Serena would be happy to see her," Mina nodded.

"I have some good news," he said with a smile. "She'll be okay. We stitched up her wound and shes being given blood. When shes wakes up, we'll let you immediatly so you can go see her," Mina nodded as the doctor walked away.

"Thank you. While we wait, we should go down and get something to eat. No use waiting around here," Yaten said quietly.

"That's a good idea," Seiya said. "Oh...Mina I brought her something...do you think she'll like it?" he asked.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, its in the car," he said. "I'll show you when she wakes up," Mina nodded and the trio walked to the hospitals cafeteria. When they sat down to eat, Minas cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Mina where are you guys?" an unfamiliar male sounding voice asked. "I just got here and I was supposed to meet Serena...shes not answering her phone," she hoped to god it wasn't Diamond

"Who is this?" Mina asked.

"You forgot me already? Mina its Haruka!" For the first time that day, Mina broke into a huge smile.

"Haruka!" she shrieked, surprising everyone. Haruka laughed.

"Glad to hear you too Mina. Now where are you? I want to see you guys," Minas smile dropped. Haruka was pretty overprotective over Serena. She would be devastated when she learned about Serenas attempt.

"Ahhh...I don't know where she is" she stammered, not knowing what to say. She felt the tears build up again.

"Where are you?" Haruka asked, voice now filled with worry and anger. "What happened?" Don't lie to me," Damn Harukas ability to figure people out. Mina stood up from the table and moved to a corner, ignoring the curious glances from her friends.

"Shes here in the hospital," she said slowly, worried about Harukas reaction.

"WHAT?!" she yelled. Even through the phone, Mina could hear the screech Harukas car made after she slammed on the break. She heard a car honk in the background. "What happened?" she demanded.

"She tried to kill herself," Mina said, as the tears began to slip from her eyes.

"Oh my-"

"They stitched up her arm shes being given blood and shes-" Mina began babbling

"Why are you telling me all this?" Haruka yelled, causing Mina to jump a bit. "You should be telling me where that fucking hospital is. Tell me. NOW," she demanded. Mina wiped her eyes and gave her the directions to the hospital.

"Haruka please don-" Mina tried to say before Haruka hung up. Knowing Haruka, she would go as fast as possible to get there in a paniced frenzy, and she wanted to tell her that Serena would be okay.

-------------

Haruka sped through the streets, weaving in and out of lanes and even nearly hit a pedestrian. She probably ran about four stoplights. Right now, Haruka was in a mental fog of fear, worry, and anger at herself for failing to protect her best friend. She knew Mina wanted to talk, but she didn't want Mina to hear her cry. This is another event that will be permanently burned into her memory. Just like the several other horrible events, she would probably never forget this.

She had tried to block out the other horrible memories of Serena. Of all the times she had failed to protect her.

_She sat on a chair next to her coffe table, sipping tea and reading a book when she was interrupted by a knock on her door. Slowly she got up and opened the door, and Serena had tumbled into her arms, giggling and nearly knocking Haruka over._

_"Kitten?" she asked the blonde worridly. Serena looked up at her with drunken eyes. She had purple marks all over her neck, and her lip was cut and bleeding. She knew that Serena had gone to see Diamond. Damn that Diamond._

Haruka blinked the tears away. Serena had began comming to her in times of need, and often during those times of need, she had shown up with bruises, crying, or drunk. That Diamond had ruined her. Even though she was being abused at home with her asshole of a father, Serena had managed to remain upbeat and tried her best to be happy. Then Diamond came along. He had gained her trust, then abused her. He was worse then her dad. Her dad only physically beat her.

Her dad, Haruka knew, really loved her. He was only sick. And he knew that Haruka knew that he hit his daughter. But she knew he loved her. She saw that loving look that glimmered in his eyes when he talked about how amazing his girls were. She noticed how her dad would still eat the deadly cookies Serena had made, and with a smile on his face. She remembered how devastated he was when Serena had ended up in the hospital after being found in the parking lot. She knew exactly why her dad abused her.

It was his sick way of protecting her. It was his insane way of showing her love. He thought he was toughening her up, and showing her what she should not want for herself. The guy was was mentally ill. He could be fixed by medications.

Diamond however, was perfectly sane. Diamond had turned her beautiful, loving, sparkling kitten into a person unreconizable. Into a person full of rage. Into a terrified little girl who had turned to alcohol, and sometimes even drugs. Everytime something came into her life that made her happy, Diamond destroyed. He was the reason she began hurting herself. He was the reason she wanted to die so bad. Haruka grinded her teeth, as she exited the ramp on the freeway as another memory forced itself into her mind.

_Haruka had been sleeping in her room, when something had awaken her. Not by a noise, not by a smell, but by a feeling. She quickly got up to go check on Serena. She had stayed over that night, four days after getting out of the hospital. Again, she was drunk, and Haruka had been taking care of her untill she fell asleep. Haruka opened the door and looked for her. Serena was nowhere to be seen. She turned on the light, and let her instincts guide her to the closet door. She slid it open and cried out in shock. Serena was kneeling down, with a radio cord around her throat. Her tear stained face was nearly blue, and her eyes were bloodshot. Haruka began screaming, and tried to pull the cord off her neck, but it was too tight. Serena grabbed Harukas wrists and tried to pry them off. Through tears, Haruka grabbed the box cutter Serena usually kept in the waistband of her jeans, slid the blade between the cord and her neck, and she sawed the cord off. Serena collapsed in Harukas lap, body gasping for air. Serena sobbed in Harukas lap, and Haruka numbly ran her fingers through Serenas dyed-black hair. When the gasps grew softer, and Serena gained a bit of strength, she looked up and glared at her savior. _

_"You should of let me die!" she cried in a hoarse voice. She placed her hands on her abdomen, and continued to cry. Slowly, Haruka untangled her hands from her hair and placed her hands over Serenas. Together, they cried, Both in mourning. Serena for her lost angel, and Haruka, for not being able to save it._

As Haruka pulled into the parking lot, she gritted her teeth in anger. After turning off her car, she jumped out and slammed the door. She ran, fast as the wind, into the room of the E.R. She vowed as soon as she saw the bright red bow of Minas hair, she would never leave Serenas side.

* * *

You guys have been waiting paitently for sixteen chapters and I haven't hinted at one thing about Serenas past so after a long wait...here are some hints! Remember loves, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! Thank you for adding this story to your story alerts, favorites, or just reviewing in general! I love you guys =]

-SmarterThanYou


	18. Chapter 18

"Where is she?!" Haruka cried, grabbing Minas arm and twirling her around. Mina shrieked in surprise, and Yaten stood up angrily.

"Who are you?" He angrily asked, pulling Mina away from her. He didn't know weather or not this guy was dangerous. For all he know, this guy could be Diamond. Haruka glared at him.

"I'm Haruka. I'm a friend of theirs," she replied, angry at how this total stranger was acting towards her.

"Is he?" Yaten asked Mina. Mina nodded.

"Haruka and Serena are really close," she said. A wave of jealousy rushed through Seiya. This Haruka fellow, he had to admit, was pretty good looking. And apparently, they were close.

"Close?" Seiya asked angrily. "Close like how?" Haruka became irritated.

"I'm her best friend. Where is she?" Mina sensed the tension, and began to get a little worried.

"Shes not awake yet," she said. "They're giving her blood," Haruka felt like an icy hand grabbed her heart and squished it. She knew Serena had started cutting herself, but she wouldn't go that far would she? Haruka collapsed down in one of the chairs.

"What happened?" She demanded. Mina bit her lip and didn't reply. Yaten ended up trying to tell.

"We were coming back from the mall and-" Yaten began. Haruka glared at him.

"Did I ask you?" Haruka snapped. "I want to hear this from Mina. NOT you," Yaten rolled his eyes.

"Don't be like that Haruka," Mina said nervously, knowing that Haruka had a bad temper. And that Yaten and Seiya are both the type of people to fuel the fire. And Haruka was not one to mess with.

"Well who are these people?" Haruka demanded. Mina sighed.

"Well, this one here is Yaten, my boyfriend" she said, pointing to Yaten. "And this is Seiya," she said, pointing to Seiya. "Seiya is a really good friend of Serenas here," Mina bit her lip when she saw a flame spark in Harukas eyes. Haruka only nodded though, and didn't say anything. They sat there in a tense silence, when the doctor came out again, with a grin on his face.

"You're here for Serena Tuskino right?" he asked Mina. Haruka jumped up.

"Yes we are. Where is she?" she demanded.

"Well she woke up about ten minutes ago. You can see her, one at a time for a suggusted time limit of five minutes each. She needs her rest," the doctor said, as he walked away.

"I'm going in first," Mina said, and walked in without waiting for a reply from the other three.

She stopped when she saw Serenas figure on the bed. She was pale and motionless. Her eyes were open though, and she was staring at the ceiling. Mina opened her mouth to speak, but Serena beat her to it.

"Don't ask me why," Serena said, without taking her eyes off the ceiling. Mina grabbed a chair and sat down next to her. She glanced down at her arm and found herself unable to take her eyes off of it. The long gash that had been in her arm earlier had been stitched shut. The thick black stitches seemed to glare angrily back at her. Underneath it were all the other wounds that had been self inflicted. Just looking at them made her cringe.

"A lovely work of art eh?" Serena asked, turning her head to glare at Mina. "Fascinating?" Mina shook her head.

"No Serena, its not," Serena studied her sisters face. She looked exhausted, her eyes were bloodshot, and her face was tear stained. Her eyes stopped at the bloodstains that stained Minas shirt.

"Sorry about the blood," she said. Mind narrowed her eyes.

"Is that all you have to say?" Mina asked. Serena remained silent. "Don't apologize for such stupid things. Especilly if your life was involved. Serena I know dad hurts you. He is never going to lay a hand on you again," Mina said. Serena looked up at her sharply.

"What do you mean?" She asked, horrified.

"I confronted him earlier," she said. "And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure he never comes near you again,"

"What did he say?" she asked worriedly. Mina hesitated and thought of earlier that morning.

_"If you tell anyone," her dad said, "I'll do to your sister what I'm going to do to you," Mina looked up into her dads face and what she saw horrified her. The look in his eyes...it wasn't him. It was the look of a monster. A look of pure anger...and something that she couldn't identify. This wasn't her father. This couldn't be her father. Mina screamed and tried to fight her dad off. He began to unbutton her pants, and Mina started screaming. He clamped a hand over her mouth to stop her. Mina tried to pull her hands away from her fathers grasp, but failed. She felt her mind go temporerily blank and didn't snap back into reality until she felt her dad thrust himself inside of her. That was when she began screaming again._

_"STOP!" she screamed, as she tried weakly to throw him off. She broke out into sobs. "DADDY STOP!" she cried. Almost immediatly, he stopped. They locked eyes for a moment. She stared into his empty, lost looking eyes. He stared down into the pleading eyes of his terrified daughter. He abruptly pulled himself out of her and stood up. He pulled up his pants and quickly backed away from her so fast, he hit the wall. Mina wasted no time in pulling up her own pants and racing up the stairs as fast as she could. As she lay on her bed, sobbing for what felt like days, she heard a soft knock on her door. "GO AWAY!" she yelled. He didn't. He opened the door, with her backpack in one hand. His eyes were bloodshot...had he been crying? He sat on the edge of her bed, and she curled herself in a ball, away from him. He sighed._

_"Baby I'm sorry," he whispered. Mina sat up and started screaming at him._

_"IS THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING TO HER?!" she screamed. "YOU SICK FUCKING BAS-" _

_"I never did that to her," he said quietly. "I've never layed a hand on her like that," _

_"You hit her though," she said, glaring daggers. He placed her backpack in front of her._

_"I never wanted to," he said, looking down at the floor. "You should get to school now," He walked out of the room. Mina shakily stood up and went to change her clothes. She would not let Serena find out about this. No matter what. She slowly walked to the bathroom, determined to scrub her body clean of the filth._

"He didn't deny it...He just took me to school," Mina said. Serena knew Mina was lying, but didn't want to push it and farther. She was feeling exahsted and weak, and not up to prying information out of her. Mina layed her head down on Serenas chest and relaxed at the soothing movements of her breathing. "Does it hurt?" she asked. Serena sighed.

"Not very," she replied honestly. Of course it didn't hurt because when she finally woke up, she was crying and scared. They had drugged her with morphine. They sat there in silence.

"I'm sorry for not being there," Mina said as she sat up. She gazed down at Serena, then noticed her eyes. Her eyes were no longer the same shade of baby blue as her own. They were slightly darker. Her eyes suggested pain and loss. Oh anger and hurt. They were slightly glazed over. She was lost. She was not broken, but destroyed. How had she not noticed this before? When did her eyes change? Serena smiled slightly.

"Don't worry about it," she said. Mina stood up.

"Don't tell me that," she said. "I want to stay longer, but some of your friends want to see you," She knelt down and kissed Serena on the forehead. "Oh, and by the way, Harukas here," Serena quickly sat up, ignoring the sudden explosion of dizziness.

"Are you serious?" she cried. Mina responded by walking up the door.

"Haruka you can see her now," she said. Haruka quickly walked in.

"Why can't I see her?" Seiya asked. "How does she look?"

"Haruka is the one she needs to see," Mina replied simply. "And she just looks tired...she'll be fine," she leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, suddenly exhausted from all the days events. Before she realized it, she was fast asleep, against Yatens shoulder.

-----

"Hey there Kitten," Haruka smiled as she walked into the hospital room. Serenas eyes lit up.

"Haruka!" she cried, excited to see her. Harukas smile faded when she saw how bad Serenas arms looked.

"Oh my God," Haruka whispered, as she touched her arms. Serena cringed as Haruka trailed her fingers down the scars. "Kitten these are going to stay forever....you can't get rid of them...you said you were going to stop," Serena sighed.

"I know dude but I couldn't...I've tried before but then I couldn't stop...it was all too much." Harukas eyes narrowed.

"Did you see Diamond today?" Serena bit her lip and nodded.

"If that little fucker layed a hand on you I swear on my goddamn life-" she began through gritted teeth.

"He wants to get back together...can you believe his nerve?" Serena whispered. Haruka got a dangerous glint in her eye. The same glint that had once resulted in a broken vodka bottle shoved into Diamonds waist. Serena cringed at the memory.

_She struggled against him, beating her fists into his chest in hopes of pushing him off. His knee was shoved visciously between her legs, holding her up against the wall. His hands were around her throat, squeezing angrily._

_"You little whore," he was growling, ignoring her strangled gasps for air. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING WITH KELLY?" he roared. She tried to tell him that she never did anything wrong. She and Kelly were only dancing. They weren't even dancing in a suggestive way, only having fun. Apperantly he didn't like the idea of her dancing. _

_She tried to wiggle out of his grasp when she heard Harukas voice in the background, calling her name. Diamond brought his knee up further, and Serenas hands automaticly went to her lower abdomen, ready to protect its precious cargo. Faintly, she heard her bedroom door open, then heard Harukas yelling. All of a sudden, Diamond was off of of her, and on the ground. Serena also fell to the floor, no longer supported by him. Haruka was by her side instantly, using her arm to half lift her from the ground. Through unfocused eyes, she glanced up at Haruka, with a deathly look in her eyes, then she rolled her head back to look at Diamond. He was curled in a fetal position swearing angrily with his hands to his side. Next to him was a broken bottle of vodka. She closed her eyes, hoping he would die._

_"SHES PREGNANT YOU BASTARD!" Haruka screamed at him. If Serena wasn't laying half-conscious in her arms, she would have beat every inch of him. Serenas eyes flew open and she started shaking her head. Haruka stared down at her, filled with anger and confusion, then realization._

_"You didn't tell him did you?" Haruka asked through gritted teeth._

_No, she didn't._

"What are you thinking about?" Haruka asked, bringing Serena back to reality.

"About the time you stabbed Diamond with the bottle," she said. Haruka's eyes narrowed to slits.

"I'll do worse if I see that pathetic excuse for a human being again," she said. Serena shook her head.

"No, don't hurt him," she said.

"I will if he comes around you again. If that fucker has the audacity to even come within three miles of yo-"

"Still, don't hurt him," she said. Haruka nodded.

"I will if he hurts you," Serena smiled. "And I'm moving here," Serena sat up.

"Really?" she asked. Haruka nodded.

"I was already planning on moving here to be with you...now I am for sure," Serena squealed in delight.

"Maybe when I get out of here you can meet Seiya and Rei! They're my friends I met from school,"

"I met Seiya already...he seems like a cocky arrogant son of a bitch," Serenas giggled.

"He kind of is...but hes really cool...I really like him," Haruka was astonished to see Serenas blushing cheeks and bright eyes, talking about Seiya like she had talked about Diamond before they begun dating.

Diamond was cocky and arrogant too. She decided to wait untill Serena was out of the hospital to voice her concerns. She ran her finger over the cut that nearly took Serenas life.

"Why this?" Haruka asked.

"I didn't want anyone getting hurt," she said.

"Like people wouldn't be getting hurt over this? Serena you promised you wouldn't do anything like that again!" They were then interrupted by a doctor.

"Miss Tuskino, you're ready to be moved into a regular room now...and ma'am visiting hours are up now...you're going to have to wait untill tomorrow to visit with her again," Haruka nodded and gave Serena a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you Kitten," she whispered. Serena half smiled at her.

"I love you too," Haruka left, and Serena was transported into another room. She stayed up for awhile, reading magazines untill she finally fell asleep.

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Authors Notes: I will most likely have the next chapter finished by the end of the day...the more reviews the sooner I put it up =D


	19. Chapter 19

_She ran home from the 7-Eleven, with her life in the plastic bag. As soon as she got home, she ran upstairs, past the startled looks from her family, and went straight into her bathroom. She sat down on the floor, finished off her bottle of Life Water and waited. After what felt like hours, she felt the urge to go. Her hands shook horribly as she took the small plastic stick from its box, and held it between her legs. After urinating on it, she capped the stick and set it on the counter. she wiped herself, then stood up and washed her hands. After drying them, she picked up the stick and stared in horror and amazement at the little screen._

**_pregnant_**

_Serena wasn't stupid. She knew that Diamond hadn't used a condom in their last encounter. She knew that she had forgotten her pill. But she had taken the Plan B pill, thanks to Haruka. Plan B was supposed to be 87% effective. Clearly life wasn't too fond of her right now._

_She waited for tears. She waited for the feeling of hopelessness and the 'my-life-is-over' feelings to come. They didn't. She stood up straighter and looked in the mirror. _

_Pregnant. She was pregnant._

_She was going to have a baby. With Diamond. She cringed at the thought. _

_She lifted up her shirt and examined her stomach. Nothing had changed. She was still petite, scrawny, and sickly. She stuck out her tummy, hoping to get a feel of what the next nine months of her life were going to be like. After smiling down at herself, she took the razor blade out from its hiding place in the cabinet, wrapped it up, and threw it in the garbage along with the pregnancy test._

_Her baby would not have to live with Diamond. She didn't want her baby to live in an abusive environment. She would leave if she had to, and raise it with all the love and support one could possible give. Her baby would be happy. _

_After gently rubbing her abdomen, she walked downstairs in a daze, and much to her families surprise, begun to fry herself up some eggs while humming a tune._

Serena's eyes flew open when she felt a big hand on her arm. All she saw was darkness, and the shadow that loomed over her bed was a mans shadow. She felt her body automatically curled in fetal position, hands over her womb, ready to defend.

"Odango?" a curious voice asked. She recognized the voice as Seiya, but her body wouldn't embrace this safety. Not when it was dark and she was defenceless.

"Don't touch me," she whispered. Half of her knew she was safe, knew it was Seiya and that he wouldn't hurt her. And that she wasn't pregnant. Yet the other half was screaming to get as far away as she possibly could, because he'll hurt her, just like Diamond. The hand on her arm was immediately lifted. Another sign she was safe.

"Are you okay?" Seiya whispered again. A chocked sob was his reply. He had interrupted her dream...no it wasn't a dream it was a memory. Why are all the memories coming back? Tears begun to slide down her face, so she pulled her blankets over her head. "Odango?" the voice whispered again. She felt his hand stroke her hair. The tension heightened, then lowered as he began talking to her in a soothing voice.

"Odango, I don't know whats wrong, but I'm here and I'm not leaving. I won't hurt you, I promise I wont hurt you. I'll protect you and I'll make sure nobody ever lays a hand on you again. Don't worry Ser-" she sat up, interrupting him.

"Turn on the light please," she whispered. Seiya immidiatly obeyed, and switched on the lamp beside the bed. The harsh glare of the light immidiatly burned her eyes. After her eyes adjusted, she found herself in the hospital room. It was night out. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Coming to visit with you, of course. They wouldn't let me in earlier because the stupid hours were up, so I kind of snuck in...I really wanted to see you," She gazed at his appearance. He was wearing long flannel pants with his school sweater on. His long hair was in a messy ponytail and he had on a look of worry and exsaustion.

"So what did you do? Toss and turn in bed all night thinking of me until you couldn't take it anymore, got up, threw on some slippers, and came over here into the room that you figured out I was in by flirting with a nurse?" she asked. Seiya smiled.

"Pretty much. Only it wasn't a nurse it was the lady down at the front desk," he said with a smirk. She smiled slightly. Seiya grabbed a kleenex and wiped the tears off her face. She immidietly hid her arm. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked as he kissed the top of her head.

"Help me keep Diamond away," she replied. Seiyas eyes narrowed.

"If you don't mind me asking, why does everybody hate him? Haruka was ranting on how big of an asshole Diamond was and started saying that if we ever saw him, call her so she can rip his balls off and feed them to the seagulls. Even Mina got shaken up when she found out that Diamond was here..." Serena layed down on her bed. She looked up at the tired looking Seiya.

"You can come lay with me if you want..." she whispered, lifting up her blankets.

"Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded. He tried to get in bed, but found it too small to fit both of them. "We're not going to fit," he said. They finally adjusted to a comfortable position, with him laying on his back and her laying on top of him. After laying in silence, Seiya began talking.

"Why'd you do it?" he asked.

"What? This?" she asked, refferring to her arm. He nodded. "I wasn't thinking. I was upset about Diamond comming back...it brought back memories that I couldn't handle...I was upset with my dad...I don't know I can't explain it," she said.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," he said. He had thought about all of the things he wanted to say to her when he saw her the whole drive to the hospital. He wanted to tell her he loved her. He wanted to tell her that she was beautiful, and quite a few other things. But of course, Serena had to remain a mystery.

"Diamond was my ex boyfriend," she said suddenly, after a really long period of silence. "The guy is worse than my dad," at the mention of her dads name, he wrapped his arms around her. "My dad got pretty bad after I broke up with Diamond...but before I did, he wasn't nearly as bad as he is now...a few smacks and punches and kicks every now and then...but now he seems to do it as much as he can," Seiya remained silent.

"He...Diamond, not my dad...loved me. He loved me too much. He loved me to the point where he either wanted me at home, safe and sound or with him, safe, sound, and protected. He always told me how I was an amazing, beautiful girl, and that he didn't want me to be taken away by a guy who was less than deserving. He even started telling me to protect myself from the lustful eyes of other boys. He wanted me to tie my hair up and hide it. And he wanted me to wear baggy clothes so guys couldn't see my body. If I wore something he didn't like, he accused me of trying to seduce other guys. He loved me so much he only wanted me for himself," Seiya was stunned.

"Odango thats not love," he said.

"I know that now. After he's beaten me senseless, nearly killed me quite a few times, raped me, threw me around, stabbed and hit me with various objects, and once pointed a gun to my head," Seiyas eyes went wide, and he felt his jaw drop. "Among a couple other things I really don't want to get into," How in the world a human being could possibly do that to Serena, or any other human being was beyond him.

Serena felt another memory make its way through.

_She gasped out in pain as she felt him kick her in the stomach. He was bad this time because he had seen her talking to Andrew, her cousin who works at the arcade. His reasoning: Having people see her talking to a guy who wasn't her boyfriend made them think she was an unfaithful whore. It didn't matter that he was her cousin. And it definatly didn't matter that she was barely fourteen._

_"Diamond stop!" she cried out. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, pulled her off the ground, and up against the wall. She sheilded her face with her hands, expecting him to hit her. He didn't. Instead, he grabbed her breast, causing her to gasp in shock and fear._

_"Oh so you like being grabbed like a little whore?" he whispered in her ear. She shook her head, and tried to push his hand off her breast. He smirked at her. She felt her throughts and heart start to race. He set her down, then picked her up bridal style. He gently layed her down on the couch._

_"You ready?" he asked her, as he ran his hand over her breast again. "Because I am," She didn't answer. She wasn't ready. She would never be ready with him. Slowly, she shook her head. Instead of respecting her wishes, he ground his erection against her thigh. "You little tease," he said quietly. "Don't you want it?" she shook her head again, faster this time._

_"No," she said, sounding shakier than expected. "Get off of me," He pulled off her sweater, and ran his hands up and down her arms. He continued to grind himself against her._

_"You don't want me?" he asked, sounding insulted. "But I want you...feel how much I want you," he said, as he took her hand and put it up against his erection. "Don't you want to touch it?" She shook her head again._

_"No," he gave her a kiss._

_"But I love you...I want you this much because I love you...don't you love me?" he asked. This was the question she hated. She did not love him. But he hated to hear that. She had to love him._

_"Yes," she whispered._

_"Then do it...show me that you love me," _

_So she did. And that was her first time._

He hugged her tighter as she babbled on, spilling the horrific story. When he looked at her, her eyes were glazed over, lost in the memory. When she was finally finished, she looked up at him.

"I'm...sorry," she said. She hadn't realized that she said this memory out loud.

"Don't worry about it," Seiya said. "You need let let some out. I'm more than willing to listen," Serena nodded, and fell asleep against Seiyas chest. Seiya didn't sleep though. He was awake for the rest of the night.

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A/N: Want an update? You know exactly what to do :) Review review review.


	20. Chapter 20

**Authors Note: I changed my name :] I am no longer SmarterThanYou. I am now VoldemortsNipple!**

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"Sir? Excuse me sir?" Seiya turned to look at the nurse, who was hovering over the bed. The crack of dawn was streaming through the windows, and the light blinded his eyes. He didn't sleep that entire night. Instead, he stayed up with his arms wrapped around Serena, almost afraid that Diamond would show up any minute to hurt her.

"Yeah?" he asked, hugging the sleeping Serena tighter. Great. He got caught.

"I don't know how you managed to be in here all night, but you're going to have to leave until visiting hours began," He stared at the young nurse in surprise. She sighed. "People often sneak in past visiting hours. Its cute honestly, you wanting to be with her. Can't blame you," he smiled.

"Can you give me a minute?" he asked. The nurse nodded and left the room. He smiled at the door. C_ool nurse_, he thought, as he begun to shake Serena awake.

"Mmmm," she groaned, wrapping her arms around his waist. He didn't even bother to hide his huge smile.

"Odango, the nurse is kicking me out," he said, ruffling her hair.

"Stay," she said, snuggling closer.

"I can't....the nurse wants me gone...I'll come back as soon as they let me, okay?" She picked up her head and kissed him.

"Promise?" she asked with a small smile. He nodded.

"I promise," She sat up, and let him slide out from underneath her. He froze when he felt his arm brush against her stitches. "Serena?" he asked. She responded by looking at him. "Can I see your arm?" Slowly, she gave him the arm with the stitches. Her feelings of discomfort grew as he stared at it with an emotionless expression. She pulled her arm away and got up out of bed. She walked over to the bathroom, and begun washing her face. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Don't be ashamed...of anything," he said. She ignored his statement. He didn't know anything.

"Thanks I'll try not to," she said sarcastically.

"Hey Sere I think you're supposed to be released today...you're more than welcome to stay at my place...Mina is staying there," She glanced back at him.

"Really?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. And we haven't been able to get ahold of either of your parents...Mina is starting to get worried," he said. Serena rolled her eyes.

"I could care less and she shouldn't care either,"

"Serena they're your parents...of course shes going to care,"

"Yeah, the mother who left her kids behind with their abusive, mentally ill father because she was scared of what he might do to her right?" she said. "Enough about my shitty excuse for parents. I'll be more than happy to stay with you. Did Mina bring Luna?" she asked. Seiya nodded.

"The little black cat right?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah. The cat fell in love with Yaten too," Serena smirked.

"Oh really?" she said. "Love like how?"

"Well she follows him everywhere. Yaten even gave her a bath with him. She loved it," Serena rolled her eyes.

"Sick fuck...he wants to take baths with animals..." Seiya laughed.

"Seiya, do you think you could get Mina to pick up some of my clothes from the house?" she asked. "I really don't think I can leave in this stupid gown," Just them, the nurse opened up the door.

"Miss Tuskino, you have a visitor," she said. Serena nodded, and Rei walked in.

"Rei!" Serena cried, running to Rei and throwing her arms around her. Rei stepped back and looked at Serena with hurt and anger flashing in her eyes.

"Let me see," Rei said, grabbing both of Serenas arms and looking down at them. She ran her finger down her stitched up cut and abruptly dropped her arm. She glared at her.

"How could you do this Serena?" she yelled. Serena stepped back in shock. Seiya was instantly aware that Reis temper was being fueled. Rei stormed towards Serena with a deadly look on her face

"Rei calm down-" he began, as he tried to step between Rei and Serena. She shoved him aside.

"Get out of my way Seiya," she yelled, before turning to Serena. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?" she screamed. Serena bit her lip and tried to walk back further, but was stopped by the wall. Rei grabbed Serenas arm and squeezed it until she was clenching her teeth in pain.

"Rei stop!" she cried. Rei shook her head.

"Me and Seiya love you Serena! We love you and we were there for you! My grandpa loves you, Amy loves you, your sister loves you! We all fucking love you and you're going to sit there AND DO THIS SHIT?!" she screamed, pushing Serenas scarred arm in her face. Serena started crying. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she yelled. Seiya grabbed Rei by the shoulder and pulled her away from Serena.

"Rei don't be acting like that," Seiya said with a dark tone to his voice. Rei slapped him away.

"How am I supposed to act?" she cried. "Sit there kissing her ass and feeling sorry for her just because she cuts her wrist?" She looked back at Serena.

"Rei I-" she began before Rei cut her off.

"That was such a pathetic bitch move Serena," she said. Serena ran to Rei.

"Rei you don't know SHIT!" she yelled. "Don't sit there and say it was a pathetic bitch move when you don-"

"Oh because you don't get along with your fucking dad? BOO FREAKING HOO Serena. My dad never fucking sees me because hes off working all the time and fucking pathetic gold diggers. My moms dead. You don't see me trying to kill myself? SERENA YOU'RE PATHETIC!" she screamed. Seiya grabbed Rei by the arm and dragged her out of the room.

"Rei WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" he cried after he shut the door. She crossed her arms, with fire in her eyes.

"Do you have any idea the extent of what Serena did?" she said. "That was unbelievably selfish. She didn't think of anbody other that herself when she slit her wrist," Seiya was fuming at this point.

"And what makes you think that?" he cried.

"Because if she was thinking of _anyone _other than herself, she wouldn't have done that. I'm leaving. My grandpa is waiting for me downstairs," Rei turned and ran down the hall. After she disappeared from sight, Seiya slammed his head against the wall.

"Sir are you okay?" a nurse asked, touching his shoulder.

"I'm fine. Get away from me," he said angrily. In a way, he couldn't blame Rei for being as mad as she was. Rei had a nasty temper, and she adored Serena. She loved her like a sister and was naturally protective over her. She would be angry with anyone who tried to mess with Serena. Apparently that included Serena herself. He sighed, and went back into the hospital room, where he found Serena sitting on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring at the wall. Her face was still wet with tears. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Rei was just upset," he said.

"You know who she kind of reminds me of?" Serena said. Before Seiya could respond, she answered her own question. And with a small smile. "She reminds me of Kelly,"

"Whos Kelly?" Seiya asked.

"Well she was my best friend back in Seattle...next to Haruka of course," she said. Now, her babble was unstoppable. "Kelly was beautiful...stunning just like Rei...she had this fiery don't-fuck-with-me attitude. She was special and unique and she loved me and I loved her. Whenever I did something stupid though, she would get furious. I remember when I first met Kelly too...she amazed me,"

_Serena walked through the campus of Seattle Jr High, going to the corner tree she usually went to. It was away from the people. And it was right where Diamond could see her, should he decide to pass by. She was surprised to see someone sitting there already. This somewhat irritated her. This was her tree, her place of peace and pretty much everyone in the eighth grade knew that. She walked faster, ready to confront the stranger. She stopped when she saw the stranger._

_The stranger was a girl. A beautiful girl. Her skin was the color of chocolate, with high cheekbones. Her thickly lashed big doe eyes were dark and full of mystery and excitement. Her dark chesnut shoulder-length hair was relaxed and silky smooth. She looked very feminine, yet very strong._

_Serena had never seen anyone so beautiful. The stranger looked at Serena with surprise._

_"Oh...uhm hi," Serena said dumbly, not knowing what to say to her._

_"Hello," she said, and much to Serenas surprise, in an accent shes never heard before._

_"You're not from around here are you?" Serena asked, sitting down a distance away from her. The girl smiled._

_"Oh no,"_

_"Where are you from?"_

_"I moved here from Germany," she said with a smile. "What is your name?" Serena was fascinated._

_"My name is Serena. Serena Tuskino," she said. "What about yours?"_

_"I'm Kellinga Shubert," she said. "Please call me Kelly," Serena smiled. From that point on, the girls were inseparable. When one found one, they found the other. They adored each other, and became an active part in one anothers lives. Serena introduced Kelly to her world of concerts and parties. Kelly introduced Serena to her world of dancing and singing. They did everything together, both good and bad._

"Where is Kelly?" Seiya asked after Serena spent over an hour, with several interruptions from nurses, describing her year and a half friendship with Kelly. Serena burst into tears as she tried to tell him. He became worried, and started rubbing her shoulders, in hopes to relax her.

"Seiya I killed her," she said through tears.

_She layed in bed, examining her growing belly. She was about four months along, and she was beginning to show. Nobody noticed this except for Kelly and Haruka. It was easy to hide under a baggy T-shirt. As she cradled her womb munching on some raw nuts Haruka had gotten her, her phone rang. Serena picked it up._

_"Kelly!" she exclaimed happily._

_"Serena!" she nearly screamed. Serena was slightly taken aback and her heart instantly filled with worry. Kelly usually sounded sweet and happy. Right now, she was screaming and it sounded like she was crying. No...not crying sobbing._

_"Kelly are you okay? whats wrong?" she asked, sitting up and putting on her jacket,_

_"Serena..." Kelly cried in reply. She began speaking rapidly in a mixture of English and German, too fast for her to understand._

_"Kelly, love, speak slower I can't understand you...where are you?" It took Kelly almost five minutes to regain some of her composure._

_"I...I'm behind Rogers place," she said. Roger was their dealer. "Sere..." she began._

_"What happened?" she asked, fishing some money out of her desk drawer and running down the steps. It was about two in the morning, a dangerous time to be out, but she didn't care. Kelly sounded horrible._

_"This guy...he was...a f-friend of Rogers...he g-got drunk and he..." she stammered. Serenas heart sank._

_"You don't have to continue," Serena murmured, as she took off down the street._

_"He took out his...his stick-no his thing and he....he put it in me and I didn't want him to...I don't remember the word for it," she said._

_"What was his name?" Serena asked._

_"His name...I think it was Julias...." she stammered. She was beginning to calm down now. "Hold on Sere," she said, sounding stiff and dazen._

_"Kelly what do you have?" she asked. Something wasn't right. Her gut instinct was twisting at her insides._

_"Its this syringe...I think its heroine...its supposed to make me feel better,"_

_"Kelly don't!" she yelled, running faster. Rogers apartment was only four blocks away though. Strangely, her burning legs encouraged her to keep moving. Kelly didn't respond. "Kelly?" Serena asked, gasping for breath. No response. Then, giggles. She shoved the phone in her pocket and ran hard, not stopping till she got to Rogers apartment. When she got there, she threw open the back gate and ran down the back ally of the apartments, looking everywhere for her best friend. Finally, she found her laying behind a dumpster. She collapsed to her knees and pulled Kelly up. She tried to shake her awake, but she was unresponsive. Now crying and gasping for air, she pulled out her phone and dialed 911._

"I'm pretty sure you didn't kill her," Seiya said, frowning in confusion and worry at the hazy, lost look that now filled her eyes.

"No I killed her," she said, shaking herself out of memory lane. She wiped her eyes and looked at him with mournful, regretful eyes. "I introduced her to drugs and alchohol. Me and Diamond convinced her to try new things. I knew it was bad but it made me feel good, so I convinced her to try it with me. If I hadn't done that she wouldn't have even layed hands on drugs. Not only that, I introduced her to all kinds of people. They weren't exactly the best people in the world,"

"Did the drugs kill her?" he asked. Again, she shook her head.

"No Seiya I did. I led her down that path," Rei and Kelly were so much alike, and she didn't realize it until Rei had left.

This was a good thing. Now she wouldn't have to worry about Rei dying. She loved Rei. She didn't want anything to happen to her.

Serena associated with death. She was nothing but death. Nothing survived her presence, because she was always surrounded by demons. They would never leave. Her deamons would follow her to her grave while bringing down everything and everyone in her path.

The thought made her head hurt.

She gritted her teeth and put her head between her knees. She faintly felt Seiyas hand on her back and barely heard the crack of Seiyas knees as he got down on his knees to try and see what was wrong. "Seiya get away from me," she said, getting louder with every word.

She was dangerous. She had killed and destroyed too many people to count. Her dad, Kelly, Deonna, Haruka. She shook her head, like her thoughts could just rattle themselves out of her head. Names of the lives she had touched within the last nearly three years flew through her head like a scrolling marquee. She could feel her headache begin to pound. She heard faintly the knock on her door and the sound of Minas voice. She heard Seiya push her outside to talk to her. She felt all the pressure of the last three years building up, trying to force itself in her mind and out of her mouth, but she wouldn't let it.

Or at least tried not to. She slipped a couple times, telling Seiya things he shouldn't know. She sat up and looked at her stitches.

She wasn't being selfish. She only wanted to die so nobody else got hurt. She sighed as Seiya walked in with mixed emotions in his eyes.

"Odango your dad is here to check you out," he said. "The nurses said you can come home now," she nodded and stood up. As she tried to walk past him, he grabbed her by the arm. "You're not going home with him," he said. "You're coming with me," Serena sighed, too tired and stressed to argue.

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**A/N: Review if you want an update!**


	21. Chapter 21

Seiya left and Mina came in with a tiny duffel bag. She looked worried and even more exausted. The poor girl had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was a disaster. She looked pale, and wore no makeup. Her trademark bright red bow was nowhere to be found.

"I brought you some extra clothes Sere," she said, tossing the bag on her bed. "Hurry up so we can get to the guy's house as soon as possible. I wanna get this over with," Serena stared at her sister. "You okay?" Serena walked to her and nodded. To Minas surprise, she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her waist. Serena buried her nose in Minas stomach and breathed in the sweet, flowery scent of her. Mina took a step back to steady herself, than wrapped her arms around her head. Serena squeezed her, hoping to make up for some of the bad times she had caused, and all the times she denied Mina hugs.

"I love you," she said. Mina smiled and pulled her closer. It was kind of wierd to be hugging Serena. For a long time, she had hated to be touched.

"Aww Sere I love you too," she said with a smile. Serena stood up.

"I should get dressed," she said, as she grabbed the bag and went into the bathroom. She pulled on the skinny jeans, neon yellow tank top, white studded belt, and the Invader Zim jacket Mina had packed for her. She brushed her hair back and looked at herself in the mirror. Getting bored with her usual wearing the hair down, she grabbed some pins from the bag and fixed her hair up so she had two buns resting on top of her head, with her long hair streaming down from them. Kelly had once done that style on her while playing with her hair and she had loved it. With a small chuckle at the memory, Serena grabbed the empty bag and left. Mina's eyes widened when she saw her hair.

"Nice style," she said. Serema gave her a small smile.

"I know...lets get this over with," she said. Together, they walked out to face their father. Serena had to clench her jaw to keep it from dropping. Their dads eyes were bloodshot, his hair was a mess, and his clothes looked like he had been rolling on the floor. THis was not the man she was used to. Not at all.

"Oh my god Serena," he said in a small voice as he grabbed her and pulled her in a tight embrace. Serena stiffened and Mina narrowed her eyes.

"Dad, theres nobody around. Cut the shit and lets go," Serena said as she tried to pull away from him. He rested his chin on her head and shook his head. "let GO!" she nearly yelled, trying to step away from him. Instead, he picked her up bridal style and cradled her.

"Put her down dad," Mina said. He gave her a quick squeeze, then gently set her back to ground. Serena walked angrily away from him. Mina ran to catch up with her. When they got down to the front desk, he checked Serena out. "Sere, Yaten and Taiki are waiting outside...come on lets go," she looked up at their dad. "We're going with friends...see you later," she said coldly before grabbing Serenas arm and dragging her out of the hospital, without even waiting for a response.

"Mina...you're hurting my arm!" she cried before Mina dropped it.

"I'm sorry," she said. Serena nodded.

"Its okay...Mina what happened with you and dad?" Mina walked faster.

"Serena I already told you nothing happened,"

"Something happened obviously. I can tell. I'm not stupid,"

"Just got into a fight thats all. Now lets go," Mina pointed out the van and began running towards it. Serena ran to catch up with her.. Mina slid upen the van door, climbed in, and gave Yaten a kiss.

"Hey there Mina," he said with a smile. "Serena," he said with a nod. Serena silently climbed in and shut the door.

"Hello Serena," Taiki said, looking at her in the review mirror and smiling. "How are you feeling?" Serena gave him a small smile.

"I'm feeling alright, thank you," Taiki pulled out of the parking lot and they silently drove towards their condo.

"Would you like something to eat?" Taiki asked, looking in the review mirror.

"That hospital food looked horrible," Mina said, shuddering at the memory of seeing nurses pass out trays of horrid looking food. Taiki pulled into a McDonalds. After getting their food, he pulled into a parking space and they began to eat. After a long period of that dreadful awkward silence, Serena broke the ice.

"Yaten...ahh...thank you," he turned around to look at her.

"For...?" he asked, wiping crumbs off of his face.

"Helping me get to the hospital," she said. Yaten turned back around.

"No problem. I'd do it again if you tried to pull another stupid stunt like that," Serena frowned. Mina leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Its a compliment," she said. Serena nodded. Trust Yaten to throw a bit of his asshole attitude into a compliment.

"Can I see your...arm?" Yaten suddenly asked, turning around to face her. Taiki turned to glare at him.

"Yaten what is wrong with you? You shouldn't be asking those types of questions!" he yelled.

"Its okay," Serena said. Yaten had pretty much seen her arms already anyway. As for Taiki...well, she would be staying with then for awhile and he was sure to see it sooner or later. After seeing so many disapproving looks from doctors and nurses, she really didn't care who saw anymore. She pushed up the sleeve of her jacket and held her stitched arm out to Yaten.

"HOLY SHIT!" he yelled, turning his head away so fast, his neck cracked. She quickly pushed the sleeve back down. Yaten looked out the window and refused to meet her gaze. "All those things on your arm...don't they hurt?" he asked. Serena rolled her eyes.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"How long are those going to stay there?" he asked. "Those marks will go away right?" He normally had no problem with seeing injuries or blood, but he had never seen self injury wounds. Well, at least before seeing Serena in the bathroom. Something about seeing cuts like that and knowing she did that to herself sickened him.

"No," she said. "I'm stuck with these forever,"

"Are you serious?" he asked. "So you wanted to have permanent scars all over your arms that pretty much scream suicidal emoti-"

"YATEN!" Mina and Taiki yelled, causing him and Serena to jump.

"Sorry," he said. Serena shook her head.

"Don't be. And don't all defensive over me you guys. I've heard it all. I don't get offended,"

"Serena I have oils that may help the scars," Taiki said taking his glare off Yaten and looking at her through the review mirror. "I'll be more than happy to give them to you...maybe it will help,"

"Thank you...dude you have pretty eyes," she said, taking an admiration to his beautiful violet eyes. He smiled.

"Thank you," he said.

"Wheres Seiya?" Serena asked. Yaten rolled his eyes.

"Your boyfriend? Hes at home. Do you want to stop by your place first to pick up some clothes?" Serena nodded and Yaten began directing Taiki to their house. Serena layed her head on Minas shoulder. She found herself beginning to review the events in the last two days.

She was being weak. Serena cringed at the thought. All it took to bring back her carefully hidden memories was one visit from Diamond. She sighed, and began grinding her teeth in anxiety. Diamond would show up again. And she was bloody terrified. They pulled into the driveway and Mina, Yaten, and Serena got out of the van.

"Are you comming Taiki?" Serena asked. Taiki nodded, got out, and followed them to the door.

"Would your dad be here?" Taiki asked as Mina unlocked the door.

"I don't know. I don't care. If he is, don't talk to him," she said as she opened the door. "Serena go as fast as you can," Serena walked in and instantly ran up the stairs. Mina and Yaten carefully looked around for sight of Mr. Tuskino, then went to go sit on the couch after seeing no sign of him. Taiki stood at the base of the stairs. "Yaten, Taiki, would you guys want anything to drink?"

"Sure," Yaten replied. "What do you have?"

"No thanks," Taiki said. He stared up the stairs, and slowly began to walk up. When he reached the only open door, he peered in. Serena was rapidly throwing clothes into a small suitcase.

"Sit down if you want," she said, pointing towards her bed without looking up.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked, sitting down on her bed.

"A few months with Diamond can sharpen the senses. Imagine a few years," she said.

"Whos Diamond?" Serena was surprised by his lack of knowledge. She assumed Yaten and Seiya would have told him.

"He's my ex," was her reply, before she started throwing jewlery and make up into her bag. That was all Taiki needed to know.

"Use your experiances with him as your wings. Not your anchor," he said. She looked at him and cocked her head to the side.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Whatever happened between you two should be used to better yourself and help you fly. Don't let it be the anchor that keeps you in the bottom of the ocean. If you use it as your anchor, you will be crushed and destroyed. If you use it as your wings, you can simply fly away and move on to a better life. Whatever happened will make you stronger," she chuckled.

"Its not as easy as that Taiki, but thank you," she said.

"Take off the anchor. Get out of the ocean by swimming up. Theres so much to see and do. Don't let whatever happened destroy you. You have a lot of potential," she smiled at him. She smiled at his attempts to help her. He had no clue that she felt beyond help.

"Thank you," she said. Taiki stood up and looked at the few books that lay on her small bookcase.

"Mein Kampf?" he asked, pulling a thick black book off the shelf. He flipped it over and read the back. "How is it?" Serena folded up Lunas bed and shoved it in the suitcase.

"I haven't read it. It belonged to my friend Kelly. She loved it, although I could never understand why," She had been quite surprised at Kellys fascination with that book. Why Kelly had found a book written by a dictator who killed millions of innocent people fascinating was beyond her.

"Hitler was a fascinating man. He was extremely intelligent yet he did so many horrible things...I've always wondered what in the world went on in his mind,"

"Take the book," Serena said with a smile. Inside, her mind was screaming for her to keep the book. After Kellys funeral, her parents had invited Serena over to their house. There, they told her to pick some things from Kellys room to take and remember her by. One of the few items she had taken was Mein Kampf. She didn't want to part with something that belonged to Kelly, but figured that it should go to someone who would be as fascinated with it as Kelly was. Serena hadn't even opened the book. As a matter of fact, she had no idea why she decided to take the book in the first place.

"Are you sure?" Taiki asked. She nodded.

"Knock yourself out," Taiki smiled.

"Thank you," he said. Serena zipped up her suitcase.

"Lets go," They went downstairs to find Mina and Yaten sharing fruit on the couch. "I'm ready," Serena said, pointing to her suitcase. They stood up and they went back into the van.

"Seiya told me what happened with Rei," Mina whispered when they pulled out of the driveway. Serena stared at her knees.

"Don't talk about it," she said. Serena could now perfectly understand Reis anger. She didn't want to lose Rei as a friend. Then again, she was tired of being lonely. She was tired of having nobody but abusive people in her life. Rei and Seiya were next to Kelly on her list of people she loved. No, she didn't want to lose Rei. Serena sat up straighter. She caused so much damage in her life, but now she was determined to fix it.

She was not going to lose one of her best friends because of her stupidity.

They pulled up to the guys condo, and they got out.

"Serena we have a guest room...you can stay in there if you want," Taiki said.

"Thank you," She grabbed her suitcase and they went up to the door. As soon as the door was opened, Serena was assulted with the smell of something sweet.

"ODANGO!" Seiya yelled, throwing his arms around her in a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Hi Seiya," she said. Next to her on the couch was Ami, who had sat up and smiled at the sight of her. "Hey Ami," she said.

"Are you okay Serena?" she asked, standing up to give her a hug. She nodded as Ami gave her a big hug.

"I'm fine now...I'll be fine," she walked into the kitchen to see a tall girl with short brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore a dark green T shirt with white pants. She had on a yellow apron and was putting frosting on a cake.

"Hi there Serena," she said, holding out her hand. "I'm Lita," Serena had seen Lita several times hanging around Mina, but never really talked to her.

"I know I've seen you around," she said, shaking her hand.

"I hope you don't mind, but Mina and Seiya told me what happened so I decided to make you some get well sweets," Serena looked behind Lita to see not only a half frosted cake, but muffins, homemade chocolate lollipops, and even a large platter full of fruit, cut up to look like flowers. Her mouth dropped open.

"You didn't have to do that," Serena said, turning her gaze towards the ground. She didn't know what to think of Litas kindness. A second later, one of the heart shaped lollipops were shoved in her face.

"You could use some sweets," she said. Serena took the chocolate and began to suck on it.

It tasted like heaven. Better than the chocolates she and Kelly used to get back in Seattle. Serena devoured it and looked at Lita with a sparkle in her eyes.

"This is delicious!" Seiya came up behind her.

"Yeah imagine having to look at that and not be allowed to eat any untill you get here. Lita makes some delicious stuff,"

"Wheres Rei?" Serena asked him. Seiya bit his tounge.

"I couldn't get ahold of her," he said. Serena sighed. She would text Rei later to apologize. But now, she was just going to enjoy being with the people who went out of their way to show her they loved her.

"I'm going to put my stuff in the guest room," she said. She walked through the hall. Seiya was behind her.

"Sleep in my room," he said. "We can have a slumber party!" Serena giggled and threw her suitcase on the bed. They went out, and Serena sat with Ami and Seiya. Serena texted Haruka, who had been spending the day looking for an apartment, telling her to come by.

"Why are you telling him to come over here? He's out looking for an apartment," Seyia said. His attempts at hiding his jelousy towards Haruka were failing.

"Him?" Serena asked, as she burst out in hysterical laughter. "Seiya Harukas a girl!" she said. His mouth dropped open.

"You can't be serious!" he said. "That thing...it looks like a guy! How does she find guys if she looks like one?"

"Harukas a lesbian," she said, snickering. Ami looked at her curiously.

"I have a friend who's a lesbian," she said. Serena raised her eyebrows.

"Seriously?" she said. Ami nodded.

"Her name is Michiru...she always accompanys me to the pool at the college. Shes a sweetheart," a smirk grew over her face.

"We'll just have to introduce them then," she said.

After Haruka arrived, the group enjoyed Litas homemade sweets and watched movies, celebrating Serenas discharge from the hospital. During the fun, Serena for once forgot about her past. She forgot about Deonna, Diamond, and her dad. She forgot about all the bad events. Finally everyone left, leaving Serena, Seiya, and Haruka. Taiki, Yaten and Mina had already gone to bed.

"What time do you plan on leaving Haruka?" Seiya asked. So he didn't have to worry about Haruka taking Serena away. All that annoyed him was her overprotectivness of Serena. Especilly since he was more than capable of keeping her safe.

"I'm not going anywhere," Haruka growled. She could not understand how Serena became such close friends with this guy standing in front of her. He was an idiot. He knew absolutly nothing and yet he acted like he could face it all. Seiya had told her when Mina was visiting with Serena in the hospital that he could protect Serena from Diamond, and that she wouldn't have to worry. He was a fool. Haruka herself barely managed to keep Diamond from killing her. Seiya was underestimating him, and was too proud to even think that there was a chance that Diamond could hurt her while she was under his 'protection'.

"You don't have to spend the night here," Seiya argued. Haruka glared at him, and Serena gave her a hug.

"Haruka I'm going to stay here," she said. "Diamond has no clue where I am now an-"

"You don't know that," she said harshly. "Serena I am surprised that even you would forget his determination,"

"I saw no sign of him since I saw him at school. There were no cars following, and no sign of anyone from back in Seattle. Trust me, I know he hasn't given up but there has been no sign of him. If anything he is probably waiting for me to go back to school. Haruka, they're already taking in Mina and me. I want to stay with Mina and shes already asleep. We'll figure out what to do tomorrow. Come tomorrow first thing in the morning," she said. Haruka stared down at her. She didn't want to leave her.

"Fine," she said, giving her a hug and a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be here at six," Her gaze went to Seiya and her eyes narrowed. Before Seiya could blink, he saw Harukas first go flying into his stomach. Before her fist made contact into his stomach, he caught it, and held it in place. Haruka huffed, and pulled her fist out of his grasp.

"HARUKA!" Serena yelled.

"Not bad," she said. "Take care of her," she said. "If ANYTHING happens to her I swear on my life-"

"None of that Haruka," Serena said. Haruka sighed.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning. Love you Kitten," she said, giving Serena a kiss on the head.

"I love you too Haruka," As soon as Haruka left, Taiki came out of his room.

"Serena! Come here!" he called. Serena frowned and walked towards his room, with Seiya behind her. "Seiya stay back," he said. Seiya frowned too, and stopped in his tracks. As soon as Serena was at his door, Taiki grabbed her arm and pulled her in.

"Taiki what is going o..." her voice trailed of when Taiki shoved a familiar black card in her hands.

It was her ultrasound picture. Her mouth dropped open in shock. In her third month of pregnancy, Kelly had went with her to the doctor to get her ultrasound. Serena took the picture and made Kelly keep it, for fear of her family or Diamond finding it. Kelly told her it was safely hidden. Serena had looked for it after Kelly died but couldn't find it anywhere.

She had hidden it in her book. And Serena had handed her deepest, darkest secret right over to Taiki. Wheather or not he would tell Seiya was lost on Serena.

"Oh Taiki please don't..." she began, not knowing what to say. Taiki sat on his bed.

"So you have a daughter out there somewhere?" he asked, sitting on the bed.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "This was taken eight months ago," Memories began to flood through her mind, and it took every ounce of strength to keep tears from falling. She began to shake her head in attempts to clear her mind. She looked up to see Taiki give her a look of pity.

"You did what you felt you had to do," he said. Serena shook her head at him.

"I didn't want to," She suddenly relized what Taiki was thinking of. She decided to just let it go.

"Does Seiya know?

"Nobody knows except for Diamond, Haruka, and my dad," she said. "You can't tell anybody," Taiki nodded.

"I won't. You better hide that," Serena put the ultrasound picture in her jacket pocket and opened the door...to find Seiya leaning against the wall across from Taikis room with his mouth open in shock. Serena felt her heart freeze and fall to her stomach.

"You have a kid?" he asked, in a horrified tone.

* * *

A/N: So....we all know next chapter will be a biggie! Sorry if this chapter sounds rushed.

If you want to find out what happens next, review review review! :]

-VoldemortsNipple


	22. Chapter 22

Serena and Seiya stared at each other in horror. Seiya was in horror because Serena had a kid...a daughter from what he heard. Serena was horrified because Seiya had overheard everything and she wasn't ready to discuss that chapter in her life. The silence was finally broken by Taiki, who grew angry at Seiya for eavesdropping.

"Seiya you idiot!" he said in a loud whisper, so he wouldn't wake up Yaten and Mina.

"You told him but not me?" Seiya asked, hurt.

"No it was an accident he wasn't supposed to find out!" Serena cried. Seiya felt anger bubbling in his body.

"So was that why you tried to kill yourself? Something to do with your kid?" he yelled. Serena began a battle with her memories, which were once again fighting their way to the surface. She started to cry.

"No Seiya its not like that!" she said.

"Seiya don't be so inconsiderate and stupid! All I know is what you know. Give her a chance to talk," Taiki said. "I'm going to go to bed. This isn't any of my business," he said as he shut the door. Serena found herself going into Seiyas room. He followed behind her.

"Serena what is going on?" he asked. She fell back on his bed. She wasn't ready. She never will be but she was growing tired of fighting her memories. They were comming closer to escaping and she would rather them come out in a somewhat dignified manner rather than have her explode.

"Seiya its been on my mind since it happened...and since Diamond came yesterday I can't get it out of my mind and yes, it had something to do with her," she said. He frowned and sat down on the bed beside her. She turned her head to look at him. Her haunted, dead eyes startled him. "Her name was Deonna...it was the name Kelly loved. After she died I decided to name her Deonna in her memory," Seiya began to stroke her hair.

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"I found out I was pregnant nearly a year ago...eleven months ago in fact. She was basically a result of rape...Diamond had pretty much raped me. H...he didn't use a condom and I had forgotten the pills he made me take. At the time I had just started cutting. After I found out I was pregnant I stopped cutting immediately. I started eating more and trying to get myself together. The only thing I was doing wrong was keeping Diamond in my life. I lied to Haruka and told her that I told him, but I never did because I was afraid of what he would do. About two and a half months into my pregnancy, he had me up against a wall, screaming and chocking me because I was with my guy cousin...and he didn't like for me to be around males regardless of who they were...she stabbed him with a vodka bottle and screamed at him for hurting his pregnant girlfriend. That was how he found out," Seiyas eyes widened in shock. No wonder Haruka was so overprotective of her.

"What happened next?" He asked, hoping to get this relief off her shoulders.

"He never hit me or did physical damage to me, but he did yell at me sometimes. He would punch things or throw things, but he didn't lay a hand on me after that," The memory rushed to the surface. She covered her face with her hands, as if she could physically push the memory away. "He wasn't that thrilled about becoming a father, but he didn't try to leave me either. Sometimes he would put his hands over my stomach and try to feel the baby but that was about as affectionate as he got. He kind of...no he did become cold towards me. He started ignoring me more, but he still wanted me at his side twenty four fucking seven. He still threw a fit when I wasn't there with him," Seiya frowned. That wasn't right.

"You can stop whenever you want," Seiya said. He didn't want to push her before she was ready. She shook her head and continued.

"I was nearly five months along," she said. "I loved measuring my stomach to see if and how much I grew. Deonna was the only thing that kept me going after Kelly died. I remember running to Haruka nearly crying in joy when I woke up one morning and realized I was growing a slight bump. At that time, only Haruka and Diamond knew. Haruka literally treated me like a princess. Although I didn't want her to, she kept getting me all my favorite foods. I remember going with Kelly to get my ultrasound taken...I was three months along at the time. I remember us giggling at the sight of my baby on the screen. We fell in love with her. Of course I had my moments where I cried in fear of raising a daughter...I had those bad times but it was almost perfect...with the exception of Diamond. In fact, Diamond was getting mad because I had begun to blow him off more to spend time with Kelly and Haruka,"

"How old were you?" Seiya asked.

"I was nearly fifteen," she said. His mouth dropped open in shock. It was hard to imagine Serena at fourteen, pregnant by a psychopath.

"Wow..." he said, not knowing what else to tell her.

"Towards the end I wasn't seeing much of Diamond anymore. I didn't want to be around him. I didn't want my baby to have to deal with a phsycobitch as a father. I didn't want him to hurt her. It got to the point where every time I did see him, he would spend the entire time screaming at me and punching things because he thought I was being with other guys. The last time I willingly went with him, he jumped on me when I was sitting the couch next to me and punched a hole in the wall...so close to my head I could feel his fist in my hair. That was the last straw. I ended up punching him in the face to get him off. He tried to grab me but I ran out the door. I ran to Harukas house and she comforted me," Seiya felt his shock turn to disgust. Any man who dared to hit a girl was a pathetic excuse for a human being. Hitting a pregnant girl made him worth shit.

Serena turned her gaze back towards the ceiling and decided to finally face the memory that had haunted her for the last six months. She closed her eyes. As the horrible memories finally made their way to the surface, she spoke every word, hoping to free herself from her anchor so she could finally fly.

_Serena walked home in the rain from Harukas house. Haruka had offered to drive her home, but Serena politely declined. She hadn't exercised all day, and she felt like she needed the exercises. As she walked down the stairs, she stuffed her hands in her jacket pocket, cradling her stomach. She began to jog towards her house, but as she was crossing the street, she was stopped by a blue Honda. Diamond was sitting inside._

_"Serena get in," he said. Serena shook her head._

_"No dude," she replied. She stared at the man sitting in the drivers seat. He was nineteen years old. His shaggy white hair hung halfway down his neck. He wore a black button up shirt and dark jeans. That was Diamond. Always dressed nicely. His eyes were a dark, nearly black purple. They would be beautiful if they weren't filled with coldness. "Diamond we're over," she found herself saying. Diamond said nothing, but shook his head and parked his car towards the curb. As he unbuckled his seat belt, Serena broke into a run towards the nearby park. Only a few seconds into her run, she was body slammed with what felt like a car. Diamond pushed her to the ground and sat on top of her back._

_"YOU ASSHOLE!" she screamed, fighting to get him off of her. "THE BABY!" Diamond pulled her head up by her hair and covered her mouth with his hand. He leaned over and whispered in her ear._

_"I don't give a flying fuck about the baby. You can't break up with me," he said. To her horror, a green cloth was placed over her mouth. She held her breath and continued to struggle underneath him. She lost her fight to keep her breath when Diamond punched her in between her shoulder pains. As soon as she gasped in pain, her mouth and nose burned. Nearly immediatly, she felt her head spin and she found herself dropping her head against Diamonds hand. In her last seconds of consciousness, she felt him gently pick her up._

"The bastard did that to you while you were pregnant?" Seiya asked, horrified and angry. Serena didn't answer. Her eyes were glazed over. She was lost in her memory.

_She woke up, not knowing how much time had passed. To her horror, she was laying on Diamonds bed. She sat up and rubbed her stomach. Her baby seemed fine. She patted around her pockets for a phone, and to her dismay, Diamond had taken her jacket off. Her phone was in her jacket. She got out of bed and tried to open his bedroom door only to find it locked. She bit her lip in nervousness when she realized she was locked in. Her anger began to take over and she found herself punching and kicking the door._

_"DIAMOND LET ME OUT!" she screamed. She continued to slam her fist through the door untill Diamond threw open the door so fast, it hit her in the face before she could move. She cried out in pain and quickly put her hand against her throbbing cheek. She felt him push her hands behind her back and push her on the bed. He kneeled on her thighs and to her horror, pulled out a small black gun. He put it up to her head._

_"Listen to me you little slut," he whispered in her ear as he pressed the gun against her temple. "If you scream like that again, I swear to fucking GOD I'll kill you," She froze underneath him, glaring at him so intensely, her baby blue eyes turned to ice._

_"You let me out of here Diamond," she said. "you will not keep me here," and to her even greater horror, he took the gun off her head...and pressed it against her womb. When he clicked the gun, she broke out into tears and desperately tried to push him off._

_"No Diamond don't hurt her...leave her alone please don't Diamond please..." she begged. He stared her down before tossing the gun aside. Her relief was short lived though. He unbuckled her belt and began pulling down her pants._

_"DIAMOND!" she screamed, trying to twist her arms from underneath her. His response was a slap in her face. She bit her lip from the stinging pain._

_"I will not hesitate to beat the flying shit out of you. He leaned over and kissed the spot on her cheek he had just slapped. "Sere I love you...you know that," Serena shook her head._

_"If you did you'd let me go, please let me go," she begged. He was scaring the shit out of her. Diamond didn't respond, but ignored her pleas as he continued to take her pants off. Serena gritted her teeth and turned her head to face the discarded gun. She didn't even know he had one. And quite honestly, she shouldn't have been surprised. The guy carried around pocketknives, and had quite a scary collection in his living room. "For show," he used to say. She mentally laughed at herself. Sounded like bullshit now. She remained motionless as he proceeded to take her shirt off and unhook her bra. The only thing that kept her from fighting was the gun that rest about a foot away from her head. As he pushed himself inside her, she closed her eyes and apologized to her baby._

By now Serena had layed her head down on Seiyas thighs. As he begun to stroke her hair, she wrapped her arm around his waist, squeezing him for comfort. He tried his hardest to send her as much comfort as he can. Unfortunately, he began to feel nauseous, and had no clue what to think. Poor Serena. Poor Deonna. Absentmindedly, Serena began talking again.

"I couldn't stop looking at the gun," she said. "I was so scared that I didn't even fight. I didn't even try to tell him no. I just let him have my way with me,"

"I would have done the same thing," he said. "Its not your fault. Not at all,"

"I passed out after he had sex with me," she continued. "He said he wanted to sleep without having to worry about me causing a scene. He took the gun and put that green cloth over my mouth again. When I wouldn't breathe it in he slapped me. I don't know how long it had been, but by the time I passed out, the sun was setting. When I woke up, it was high in the sky. I have no idea why I slept that long. But when I woke up, my shirt was pulled up to my chest and Diamond was rubbing my stomach. Not affectionatly or anything, but more like my stomach was dirty and he was trying to clean it. When he saw that I was awake, he told me the baby was keeping us apart," Seiyas eyes widened. Surely he wouldn't... Seiya bit his lip, and let Serena continue with her story.

_Serena rolled away from him as fast as she could. She fell off the bed and crawled against the wall, arms wrapped around her stomach and knees to her chest. Diamond sat up and sighed._

_"Serena you stupid bitch I'm not going to hurt you. I was just saying that thing is keeping you away from me. Don't you understand? You're mine. I love you and you're mine. Nobody will love you like I do," Serena found herself shaking her head. This wasn't right. He had called her a bitch, talked about their child like it was some sort of filthy thing and told her he loved her in all of the same sentence. Last night he held a gun to her head._

_What if one day, it was Deonnas head he was pointing the gun at? Her stomach felt as if it were twisting knots. What if it was Deonna who was covered in bruises? She looked up and stared Diamond right in the eyes._

_His eyes scared her. What would they do to Deonna? She took note of the open door behind him. She needed to leave. She couldn't stay here. Serena crawled across the floor and stood up._

_"Where are you going?" he asked, as his eyes flicked to the open door. Serena lunged for the door. Just as she reached it, Diamond grabbed her arm. She wrentched it away from him and ran out, towards the living room. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from fighting back._

"We started fighting," Serena said. "After about an hour it escalated to screaming. He didn't want me to leave but yet I wanted to. He was holding me back and I kept trying to get away from him. She bit her lip and let the worst memory of all out.

_"Diamond LET ME GO!" she yelled, twisting herself away from him. She tried to run to the front door, but Diamong grabbed her by the collar and pushed her up against the wall. He stared her intensely while she fought to catch her breath._

_"Its that fucking thing in there isn't it?" he growled, stabbing his finger at her stomach. She squirmed, trying to get out of his grasp. All of a sudden, he pushed one arm against her throat...and used the other to punch her, with all his strength, into her stomach. She felt all the air in her body shoot out of her mouth so hard, it hurt. _

_"There. There is no reason anymore for you to avoid me," he said. Immediatly, as his actions registered in her mind, she felt a sudden, unbelievable rush of adrenaline. She attempted to knee him in the groin and barely missed. Not enough for it to hurt, but enough to shock him. When he was distracted, she twisted free and punched him in the face as hard as she could. She then pushed him down to the ground and again tried to run for the front door. He lunged forward and grabbed her by the ankle, causing her to trip and land facefirst to the ground. A wild, almost animalistic scream erupted from her as she brought her foot to his face, earning a satisfying crunch. Despite being kicked in the face, and most likely breaking his nose, he forced himself on top of her. He punched her in the face and began screaming, calling her all kinds of horrible names. Before she knew it, his fists were beating down on her, one after the other, pelting her like some kind of fierce hailstorm. Through the stars, she managed to reach out and grasp a hold of his throat. She squeezed as hard as she could, and felt a satisfyingly liquid run slowly down her fingers as she did so. He stopped and began trying to pull her hand off, looking almost afraid of this superhuman strength she had somehow managed to obtain. After punching her in the face, he grabbed both of her hands, and held them above her head._

_"LET ME GO!" she roared, sounding like a wild beast rather than a human being. She began fighting desperatly to get out of his grasp._

_"You bitch," he muttered. After another punch to the face, she began feeling sudden, sharp pains to her womb. She started screaming and thrashing, fighting to get loose. After a few more of those sudden pains, she felt herself go dizzy. Too weak to strugle, she blinked the tears away and tried to sit up to see what was going on. Before she could see, another punch flew into her face. After that, she felt nothing, saw nothing, and knew nothing._

Seiya could barely contain his stomach. Had this really happened? This was unbelievable! He didn't want to know anymore. He couldn't bear to know anymore. But he listened, clenthing his body to keep from throwing up. Serena was crying now.

"Do you have any idea what he did?" she asked through tears. Seiya didn't move. Serena sat up, and took off her shirt. She then unbuttoned her pants and pulled them a quarter of the way down her thighs. He immediatly turned away, as he usually did when Rei would change in front of him. "Seiya look," So slowly, he looked. What he saw made the bile rise to his mouth.

Her entire lower stomach was covered in scars.

They were long and thick, some obviously deep. There was no was no way she could have done that to herself. The scars were a dark pink, obviously not that old. He forced the vomit down, not wanting to upset her. For reasons he couldn't understand, he reached out, and gently touched them to see if they were real.

They were.

Serena was shaking now. He looked in her eyes to see death, pain, suffering, and anger.

"I'm sorry," he said, immediatly drawing his hand back, ashamed. "I shouldn't have done that,"

"Its not you," she said, breaking down into a fresh wave of tears. She pulled up her pants and crawled into Seiyas lap. He cradled her and kissed her repeatedly on the top of her head. "He stabbed me obviously," she said. "And you know what that fucker did? He dumped me off, bleeding and unconscious, in a parking lot at a fucking K Mart. This ten year boy who was putting a cart away found me. They took me to the hospital and when I woke up, I found out that Deonna had..." her voice trailed off as she began to cry harder. "They told my dad that I had...miscarried...he didn't tell my mom or Mina. Thats why he was so strict on me," Well that made a bit more sense on her dads part to be overprotective.

"Odango I don..." he began as his voice trailed off. "I'm sorry..."

"You know what else?" she said, looking up at him with destroyed eyes. "I can't get pregnant anymore...when he did what he did, he fucked up all my organs. I can't get pregnant," she sobbed into his chest. "I became the biggest fucking whore after I came out of the hospital. I almost killed myself a few days after I got out but damn Haruka cut the cord...a couple days after _that _I started fucking around," He frowned.

"Your not a wh-"

"I fucked six guys that I can remember within two weeks," she said. "And thats that I can remember. During those two weeks I was drunk off my ass. I can barely remember those six guys too. I don't know what I did when I was drunk because I kept blacking out. Sometimes I would find myself at Haruka's house after I woke up. Usually at random apartments. Once I found myself in an ally without my underwear," Seiya was horrified.

"Odango!" he cried, hugging her tighter. "You could have gotten a disease!"

"I got chlamydia," she said. "I got rid of it though, thank god. I was lucky. At the time though, I didn't care. I just wanted to get pregnant. I wanted to forget Diamond and get my baby back. Of course no matter how hard I tried, I never did," Serena threw her arms around Seiyas waist and continued to cry. After nearly an hour, she felt herself emotionally drained from the tears. "I'm sorry Seiya," she said, wiping her tears. He kissed her on the lips. She drew back, surprised.

"Seiya I'm filthy!" she cried. He gave her a small smile.

"No you're not," he said, as he leaned back into his bed. He extended his arms for her, and she smiled weakly before giving in and curling herself against him. "I still love you," he said, as his fingers drew small circles in her back. She sighed into his chest, feeling much more relaxed and so light, she felt as if she were flying.

"Thank you Seiya," she whispered, as she kissed the spot on his chest where she felt his heart beating. Exausted, she snuggled up closer to him before falling asleep, finally relieved of her memories.

She finally felt safe, and she finally felt loved.

* * *

**A/N: So as we all know, the login thing was all messed up and nobody could update. To make up for it, I added Serenas entire story in one chapter, rather than dividing it into two. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review!**

**-VoldemortsNipple**


	23. Chapter 23

When Seiya woke up, he expected to feel Serena in his arms. When he didn't he shot out of bed with his heart pounding in his chest. What he saw, to his immense relief, and later worry, was Serena sitting on the floor, still in only her bra and jeans, with her knees drawn to her chest. She was staring blankly at the wall. Last nights confession ran through his mind as he watched her.

That was beyond too much for a person to handle. Then, he found himself wondering how in the hell someone could stumble into such bad luck. It was almost unrealistic, now that he thought about it. If it weren't for the scars on her stomach, he probably wouldn't have believed her. Nobody should have had to go through that. He scooted closer to her, and began untying her messy hair buns.

"I feel so much better," Serena said, not taking her eyes off the wall. She spoke the truth. She had always thought that if she said it out loud, it would mean her past was real, and she didn't want it to be. By telling Seiya her story, she had accepted it. She accepted everything. She was no longer in denial, and for some strange reason, she didn't feel nearly as horrible and guilty. She felt so much lighter, and she was able to think much more clearly. In fact, it was her thoughts that had woken her up. And to her amazement, she was able to sort it all out. She was able to hear herself think.

It felt amazing.

"I'm glad you do," Seiya said with a smile, wrapping his arms around her neck. She turned and looked at him. The hollow deadness normally present in her eyes were now gone. And to his joy, her eyes were now filled with relief and sheer determination.

"I am not going to be the victim," she said simply. "All that shit happened to me because I never even tried to be strong. I'm tired of the victim. I'm tired of people looking at me with pity. I loved my baby and everything but I'm tired of staring at myself in the mirror every day wondering how I would look if she were still in there. I'm tired of my dads bullshit, I'm tired of Diamonds bullshit, and I'm tired of hurting everybody," he smiled and hugged her tighter. "I'm tired of pushing everyone away and you know what I'm especially tired of looking at myself and thinking that everything will be perfect if I were dead,"

"So what are you going to do?" he asked. The determination in her voice was nearly tangible.

"I will not live with my dad and neither will Mina. Something happened between them and I will find out what it is. Diamonds crazy ass is going to jail. I'm going to stop feeling sorry for myself because obviously that has gotten me nowhere. I will move on. I will go to college," then, her voice softened. "I'm going to adopt a kid. Don't you think that will be nice?" he smiled and nodded. "I'm going to fix things with my mom and Rei. I'm going to tell Mina what happened because you know what? I owe it to her,"

"You shouldn't tell her things just because you feel like you owe her something," he said. "Tell her your story because you want to," she smiled and stood up. She grabbed a T shirt Seiya had laying on the floor and slipped it over her head.

"Starting right now, I'm a new person," she said, staring at her hands. "I'm tired of pain. I want to be happy,"

"Forgiving yourself is a good start," he said.

"I already have. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to make breakfast for everybody. I'm going to celebrate a brand new start," He smiled, but began to doubt her. How can anyone go from destroyed to fixed like that in one night? It didn't make much sense.

"Its not going to be that easy," Seiya said as she opened the door to his room. He followed her into the bathroom, where she fed Luna and began to wash her tear stained face.

"Better start working on it," she said, as she splashed water on her face. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to be happy. I don't want to grow up to be a miserable fuck who can't move on," Before he could respond, she dried her face and left, heading towards the kitchen. He followed her, and helped her pick out cooking ingrediants. As she began to take out a cookbook, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Seiya said. He opened the door to reveal Haruka.

"Haruka I thought you were comming at six!" he said, moving aside to let her pass.

"Its five forty three. Close enough," she said, walking into the kitchen to give Serena a hug.

"Five forty three?" Seiya asked, looking outside. Sure enough, it was still dark. The San Fransisco morning fog rested, still damp and thick outside. "How the hell did you manage to get here? The morning fog this time of year is horrible," Haruka began adding chocolate chips to Serenas pancake mix.

"I have feet don't I? I got a hotel not too far away from here,"

"I thought you got an apartment Haruka," Serena said as she grabbed a whick and began stirring the pancake mix. Haruka gave her a strange look.

"It wont be ready untill next week. Are you okay Kitten?"

"I'm fine Haruka," she said. Haruka wasn't sure wheather or not to believe her. Something had changed. She saw a spark of life in her eyes that faintly resembled the sparkles that had been there when she first met her. Serenas jaw was set, and she could tell that she was grinding her teeth, a nervous habit she noticed Serena had formed a couple years ago when she was unsure of something. The way Serena bustled around the kitchen, trying to make a breakfast didn't seem right. She wasn't moving slowly and hesitantly as she usually did. She literally moved as if she was high, francticly grabbing things and arranging them either in the kitchen or on the table. She watched as Serena nearly slammed down a pan on the stove and spray it with Palm Olive. Then, she glanced at Seiya to see if maybe he had noticed, since he seemed to act like he knew her so well.

He had. Only he didn't see it as strange, like Haruka had. He looked amused! Gritting her teeth in anger, she grabbed Seiya by the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him into the hallway. Serena, in her nearly hyper-hysterical state, didn't seem to notice.

"Seiya what the hell is going on?" she demanded. Seiya leaned back into the wall, trying to get away from her.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown. "Everythings fine," She pushed him against the hallway with a deadly glare in her eyes.

"She is not fine. She looks high! What happnened after I left?" she demanded. Seiya lightly pushed Haruka away from him.

"Serena told me about her...you know," Haruka frowned, then her eyes widened in shock.

"Her what?" she asked.

"The pregnancy," he said in a hushed wisper. The next thing he knew, Harukas fist was plummeted into his chest. He grunted from the force, and cried out in shock when Harukas hand grabbed his neck and squeezed. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, voice as cold as the wind in winter.

"If you do ANYTHING to hurt that girl, I will not hesitate for a moment to beat the flying shit out of you. You have no idea what I'm capable of, and you have no idea what I've had to do to keep her safe. There is nothing I wouldn't do for her and I've seen her go through things no human being should have to go through. I'll be damned if some cocky son of a bitch treats her any less then a princess. One wrong move and I'll make sure you feel the pain when you even_ think _about her," she let go of his shirt and stepped back. Giving him one last glare, she headed back into the kitchen, where Serena was pacing around the kitchen furiously stirring the pancake batter. "Kitten?" she asked quietly, reaching out to lay her hand on her shoulder. Serena slammed the bowl down on the counter.

"I'm so fucking STUPID!" she cried as she punched the cabinet above her head. Haruka wrapped her arms around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"No you're not," she said. Seiya, ignoring Harukas glares, went to give Serena a hug too. She pushed him away.

"Yes I am!" she said. "I wasted nearly three years of my life with that asshole! Thats three years of my life I will never get back. I can't believe I was stupid enough to fucking stay with such a disrespectful abusive phsycotic crazy pig-headed big-"

"You're not with him now are you?" Seiya said, as he began pouring the pancake batter on the pan. Serena leaned against the counter and buried her face in her hands.

"Of course I'm not but I was dumb enough to let him completly control my life. Even now, I feel like he has some control,"

"Cut the cord," Taiki said, comming around the corner while rubbing his eyes. "You need to completley cut the rope between you and him. So far, several strings of the rope are broken, but there are a few still intact. Release yourself from him. Honestly, the only way to really be able to cut the rest of the rope is to confront him. As long as you avoid him, you will never get rid of that rope," Serena bit her lip and absentmindedly flipped the pancake.

"Where did you come from from?" Haruka demanded. "How much did you hear?"

"I came from my room and all I heard was that she wasted three years of her life with him," he said. He turned to Serena. "And I wouldn't call that relationship nessecarily a waste of time. No life events are a waste of time," He opened the refridgerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"You don't know that," Serena said. "I spent three years putting up with all his bullshit and let it completly take over my life. I would call that a waste of my time and life," she took out the pancakes and began pouring more. Pretty soon, the smell brought Yaten and Mina out from there rooms.

"Serena you can cook?" Mina asked, pulling out plates and utensils.

"Only on special occaisians," Serena said, feeling her annoyence at herself drift away.

"Whats the special occaisian?" she asked, setting the table. Serena grinned and struck a pose.

"My new life," she said, with a warm feeling in her heart.

* * *

**A/N: Finally, some good in this story. Last chapter was a major turning point in the story, so I'm pleased to say I'll soon be wrapping it up. Send reviews!**

**-VoldemortsNipple**


	24. Chapter 24

"New life?" Mina asked, as she began taking out cups and silverware. Serena nodded, with a grin on her face.

"Yeah! Isn't it great?" she said, flipping the last of the pancakes onto the growing pile on the plate. She took the plate to the table and then went to the refridgerator to retrieve the milk. She came back, and sat the milk down next to it.

"These smell great," Seiya said, as he picked up a pancake and shoved it in his mouth. He frowned a little, but continued chewing.

"Ew! Seiya use a fork! We don't know where your hands have been!" Mina cried, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Seiya smirked.

"Well I went to the bathroom and can't remember wheather or not I washed my hands and I kinda had a wet dream last night so I had to relieve myse-"

"THATS DISGUSTING!" Haruka yelled. Seiya glared at her.

"Haruka, its perfectly natural. I'm sure you give yourself a little finger action whenever yo-"

"Its disgusting if you really did do that because you were touching the food," Haruka said with an eye roll. Yaten's mouth dropped open, then he spit out the pancake he was chewing on into a napkin.

"YOU TOOK A SHIT, JACKED OFF, THEN TOUCHED THE FOOD?! THATS FUCKING NASTY!" he yelled. "I suppose you and Serena shagged too right? Serena did you at least wash your hands?" he asked. Serena looked up in surprise.

"I was kidding!" Seiya cried. "And no I di-" he began before Serena interrupted.

"I didn't-" she began.

"What do you mean you suppose he and Serena shagged?" Mina asked, glancing at Serena in surprise. Serena franticly shook her head.

"Don't deny it Serena I saw you sleeping with him in your bra," Yaten said. Mina looked at Serena and gave her a knowing smirk. Serena rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean she was sleeping with him in her bra?" Haruka cried. She glared at Seiya, then stood up, ready to attack him.

"WE DIDN'T HAVE SEX!" Serena yelled. "And Yaten I sleep in my bra half the time anyway. I'm comfortable around Seiya and I have no problem with him seeing my half dressed. If you would have looked closer, you would have seen that Seiya was fully dressed and that I had jeans on. Calm down,"

"You all need to calm down," Seiya said, laughing at everyones outburst. "And Yaten, don't worry. I was only kidding. The food is untainted," he sat down, and slowly began to eat another pancake. Serena looked at him before taking a curious bite. The pancakes tasted horrible! Serena coughed out the pancake then looked around at everyone else, who were hesitantly eating.

"The pancakes taste horrible, I know," she said. "I think I forgot to add sugar. Don't pretend to like it. Lets just go out to eat somewhere,"

"Waffle Shop!" Mina cried, happily tossing aside the horror of a pancake. "I'm going to get ready," she said, as she scooted her chair back and stood up. She cringed at the pain that traveled up her back, but picked up her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She then went into Yatens room and began digging through her suitcase.

"Yaten what should I wear?" she asked, pulling out a variety of different shirts. Yaten pulled out a white, puffy shirt.

"Wear this," he said. "It will look good on you," Mina took the shirt and turned around. She pulled off the pajama shirt and went to put on the shirt Yaten had picked. He grabbed her shoulder to stop her and Mina jumped. "Whats that on your back?" he asked.

"Whats what?" she asked, subconsciously biting her lip. She felt Yaten trace her fingers across her back. She flinched.

"You know what," he said. Mina shook her head. Yaten took her to his mirror and had her stand there with her back facing it. He took a handheld mirror and had her hold it. Mina frowned and took it. Her mouth dropped upen when she saw what Yaten was referring to. There were two long bruises lining across her back, and even a smaller one going across the back of her neck. The bruises were a sickly green, and when she reached behind her to press on them, they hurt. _The stairs..._ she thought.

"I don't know," she said, grabbing the shirt on the bed and putting it on, to hide the offending marks.

"It was your dad wasn't it?" Yaten demanded, blocking the door so she couldn't leave. "You said he abused Serena. He abused you too didn't he?" Mina shook her head.

"Not nessacerily," she said. "Not anywhere near what he did to her. It was only once-"

"Was it the day when Serena tried to kill herself?" he asked. "You know, that day where you didn't show up to school untill almost lunch and didn't talk to me for hours? Was it that day?"

"Mina, Yaten are you guys ready?" Serena yelled through the door.

"Almost!" Yaten replied, then he turned back to Mina. "It looks like he hit you with a bat or something,"

"He didn't," she said. "Forget about it,"

"I'm not going to forget Mina. Don't tell me if you don't want to but let it out one way or another because that would explain why you haven't been yourself. I don't want you to end up like your sister,"

"What do you mean like my sister?" she snapped.

"All secretive and angry and sick. And don't look at me like I'm shit-talking because you and I both know I'm right. I don't want to have to see you laying in a bathtub full of your own blood because you decided to keep it in rather then letting it out," Minas mouth dropped open.

"You know damn well that will not happen!" she cried.

"Even if you decide not to tell me, do something that will let it off so you don't sit there and wallow in your own grief-"

"I don't want Serena finding out," she said, as she sat on his bed and began to brush her hair. Yaten sighed and moved away from the door to change his clothes.

"If you want me to be honest, I think that girl has been through so much shit, one more bad thing wouldn't phase her,"

"She'll go after him," Mina said simply.

"Obviously she wouldn't win,"

"In the beginning of our freshman year, Serena got suspended for punching this soccer player in the face. He had pushed me against a wall and started grabbing me. I begged him to stop and apperantly, Serena and Kelly heard because the next thing I knew, he was off of me with blood comming down his face and Kelly was holding Serena back because she wanted to hit him again," Yaten frowned. He wasn't surprised. "I have no doubt that she would go after our dad if she knew what he did,"

"QUIT MAKING OUT AND HURRY UP! I'M HUNGRY!" Seiya yelled through the door. Mina tied her red bow into her hair.

"WE'RE COMMING OUT SEIYA!" she called. Yaten grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. He began giving her little kisses up and down her neck.

"Consider telling someone," he whispered in her ear. "It'll help," He opened the door and motioned for her to come out. Mina sighed and followed him. In the living room, Haruka was carrying Serena on her back.

"About time!" Serena said. "You used protection right?"

"Shut up Serena," Yaten said as he tossed Taiki the keys. The group filed out into the van.

"Wait where are we going again?" Taiki asked as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Waffle Shop!" Mina cried. Taiki gave her a wierd look in the mirror before directing the car towards the famous house of waffles.

* * *

Sorry I couldn't put more into this chapter. I need to be somewhere very soon.

The more reviews I get, the more I will put into the next chapter :D


	25. Chapter 25

Haruka found herself suspisiously looking around the resturaunt while the others talked and laughed. For some reason, the hairs on the back of her neck were standing full height and all five (or six, as most people would say) of her senses were acutely aware of her surroundings.

Something didn't feel right.

Serena had spent years uptight, scared, and refusing to trust anyone except for her. Now, all of a sudden, she found a group of people who sincerly cared about her well being. Seiya, although an egotistical, full-of-himself moron, seemed to do a great job of making her feel safe. Mina, her sister who was willing to do anything to see a smile on her sisters face. Taiki, who always tried to make Serena see the lessons in the bad events that had occured in her life. Yaten, who picks on her like she was his little sister and helped keep her from bleeding to death by using his prized jacket. Amy, who didn't tiptoe around her, instead treating her as a normal person rather than the fragile broken little girl everyone else, Haruka included, treated her. Rei, who according to everyone else, obviously adored her, although Serena had hesitantly mentioned that she was mad at her for her suicide attempt. Haruka couldn't blame Rei. Seeing someone you love trying to end their own life was something nobody should have to see. Haruka had not forgotten how she yelled at Serena and nearly smacked her the next morning after seeing the purple ring the cord had left around her throat.

Truth to be told, the friends Serena managed to gain in San Fransisco were an ideal group of friends teenage girls dreamed about, but were not often able to enjoy. One would consider her quite lucky, but as Taiki had said, there were still strands connecting her to her old life in Seatle.

And to Harukas horror, those strands walked right through the door to the Waffle House.

She bit her lip, and although she did not want to do it, she found herself kicking Seiya from under the table. He looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Did you have to kick me Haruka?" Seiya complained, leaning down to rub his shin. Idiot.

"Come with me outside. I need a smoke," she said, taking the last bite of her waffle and standing up.

"Haruka? I thought you quit?" Serena asked, looking up at her curiously. In the distance, she could see Diamond, wearing a hat, sit down at the table nearest to the door. He looked up and locked eyes with Haruka. Instead of showing surprise, he smirked at her and waved. Haruka felt her blood boil. Thank god Serenas back was facing the door.

"I almost did," she said with a forced smile. She did not want to ruin her breakfast. "Now Seiya come out so I have someone to talk with," Seiya gave her a confused look, then stood up.

"Alrighty," he said. They walked together towards the door.

"He's here," Haruka whispered quietly, loud enough for Seiya to hear.

"Who is?" Seiya asked. Haruka didn't respond, but as they reached Diamonds table, Haruka grabbed him by his arm and pulled him out of his seat. Diamond didn't protest. Instead, he followed with a smile on his face. Seiya frowned in confusion, but when he saw the furocious, nearly animalistic glare Haruka wore on her face, the identity of 'he' slowly began to dawn on him. Haruka roughly pulled him towards the back of the resturaunt and Seiya followed, keeping his eyes away from the miserable excuse of a living being. When they got to where nobody could see them, she used all her strength to push Diamond against the concrete wall. He began laughing. Haruka didn't miss the smell of beer on his breath that drifted towards her face. The bloody peice of shit was buzzed.

"I can not believe you would dare have the AUDACITY to show your face anywhere NEAR us!" Haruka yelled.

"Haruka...is this...?" Seiya slowly asked.

"Its Jesus Seiya," she said, with her voice dripping in sarcasm. "Who the hell do you think this is?" Seiya stared at him in anger and horror. To be quite honest, this guy didn't look like he was capable of much. He was about the same size as him with a bit smaller built. Seiya mentally thanked football for giving him the muscle advantage that this guy didn't have. Diamonds snow white hair gave him the nice, innocent guy look.

Altough he was drunkinly laughing, his eyes showed just a hint of his malicious side. That hint was all Seiya needed.

"Christ Haruka calm down," Diamond said. "Is it a crime for a guy to want to see his girlfriend?"

"It is most definatly a crime when she wants absolutly nothing to do with his crazy ass. Its a crime when that guy destroyed everything there was to be destroyed in a person. You are a crime. Leave AT ONCE. She is not your girlfriend Diamond. She wants absolutly nothing to do with you. Now, I'm not going to lay a hand on you because I promised Serena I wouldn't. But I will not hesitate to report you to the authorities and ruin your miserable li-"

"Relax I'm not going to do anything to her you crazy bitch. I want her to forgive me. I want her to-"

"FORGIVE YOU?!" Haruka roared, using every ounce of strength she posessed to keep herself from beating the living crap out of him. "How dare you even THINK to ask her for anything? After what you did to her? You have some nerve. How dare you you pathetic, miserable, lowlife, peice of shi-" she was interrupted when a fist came flying out of nowhere, landing smack on Diamonds cheekbone. She faintly heard the sounds of Seiya knuckles crack. She dropped Diamond and he slumped to the floor, dazed from the impact. Then, he started laughing. She stepped back as Seiya pulled him back up from the collar of his shirt.

"You had the perfect girl," he growled. "You had the girl who was willing to forgive and forget all the shit you put her through until you smashed her nearly beyond repair. You had a beautiful girl and you threw her away like the worthless piece of shit _you _are," Seiya shook him, barely able to see through his anger. "I want to beat you till you can't fucking move. I want to beat you till you can barely breathe but I'm not going to do that because I'm way better than you," Seiya shoved a dazed, drunken Diamond to the ground. Diamond looked at him and gave him a long menacing stare. Seiya turned and walked back towards the resturaunt, and Haruka began to follow. Both felt Diamonds piercing eyes burning holes in the back of their heads. The pair walked back into the resturaunt where the saw Taiki giving the waiter the credit card. When they walked in, their whole group was staring at them.

"I know Diamonds here," Serena said. " I saw you guys pull him out. Come on, lets go," They waited for the waiter to bring Taiki the credit card and recipt. As they were leaving, Seiya wrapped his arm around her, in case Diamond was watching.


	26. Chapter 26

They drove back to the apartment in silence. Taiki had followed Amys suggustion of going different routes in case Diamond was following. Neither Seiya, Haruka, nor Serena had spoken since leaving the resturaunt. In fact, they all seemed to be in their own little worlds.

It was amazing what a person could do to people.

Seiya felt his pocket vibrate. He took out the phone and opened the new text. It was from Rei. _Hows she doing? _She asked. Seiya smiled. _Okay. Crazy shits going on though. Might want to come by. She misses you. _Almost immediatly, Rei had responded. _Be there in 10._ Seiya leaned over and kissed the top of Serenas head and smirked when Haruka sent him a glare. Serena grabbed his hand and leaned her head against his shoulder. Seiya smiled down at her, then turned around to stick his tounge out at Haruka, whos eyes had narrowed down to slits. After returning to the condo, they went inside to discuss the Diamond issue.

"You know what I want to know?" Yaten asked, leaning his head back into Minas lap. "I want to know weather it was a coincidence that he happened to be at the same spot we were at or wheather he knew we were there. Were we being followed?"

"I didn't see a car," Taiki said. "I think its coincidence. I didn't see a car folloing us on our way there. It had to have been-"

"He has his ways," Serena said. "In Seattle, he always knew where I was,"

"That was creepy," Mina said. "We'd be somewhere and he would just randomly show up. Pissed off mom and dad quite a bit. Even when they took away Serenas phone so she couldn't talk to him, he would still show up demanding to know why her phone was off,"

"And your parents still let her see him?" Ami asked with a frown.

"Serena was so out of control our parents didn't give a shit about what she did anymore," Mina said. "They tried to ban her from seeing him but she snuck out and stayed with him for two days,"

"I didn't sneak out!" Serena exclaimed. "I was thirteen when they tried to do that. Do you really think I would have snuck out the way I was at the time?"

"I can't really remember how you were," Mina said, biting her lip. "You literally changed overnight. All I remember is way before him, during Diamond, and after you got out of the hospital."

"I was still more attached to you," she said. "Diamond was just following me around all the time. After they tried to stop me from seeing him was when I went all crazy. And the only reason why I snuck out was because he broke into my room and demanded that I went with him. I said no and he slapped me. That was when the shit hit the fan," It was much easier now, Serena discovered, to speak of her past abuse recieved from Diamond. She figured it was from finally saying his worst deed out loud. She was grateful. When the doorbell rang, everybody jumped, then Seiya stood up to answer it. Rei hesitantly stepped inside holding a giant stuffed giraffe.

"Hey there Rei! Come sit," he said, shutting the door and pointing to the spot next to a very surprised Serena.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Rei asked, ignoring Seiya. Serena nodded.

"We'll be right back Serena said, leading Rei into Seiyas room. Rei sat on the bed and held out the huge giraffe. Serena shivered from the cold and closed the window Seiya left open.

"I got you this," Rei said. "I should have given it to you in the hospital," Serena took the giraffe and hugged it.

"I'm sorry Rei," Serena said.

"Don't be," Rei said. "Don't ever do anything like that again or you'll regret it. I'm sorry for yelling at you," she threw her arms around Serenas neck. "You scared me," she said.

"I'm not going to do that again. Don't worry," Serena said. "I'm trying to get my life back together now,"

"Whats going on?" Rei said.

"My ex. His name is Diamond. He abused me and now hes over here trying to beg my forgivness. He did too many horrible things to forget and hes still trying to get me back. The nerve of him,"

"What did he do?" Rei asked.

"I don't want to talk about it now and spoil our cheesy moment," Serena said. "Come out, we'll explain everything to you," She took Rei, where they walked out back to the living room. Rei sat down, and Serena sat in between her and Seiya.

"Look Serena," Haruka said. "Your not going to like this, but you're not going anywhere without someone with you," Serena narrowed her eyes.

"I can take care of myself," she said.

"Kitten this is for the best," Haruka said. "You know better than anybody hes a strong-"

"I CAN HANDLE HIM!" Serena screamed. "I'll handle him. I'm am NOT some little chicken shit. I am not going to let him scare me and I am NOT going to let him run MY life!"

"Sere, what if he hurts you?"

"Theres nothing he can do to me that hasn't been done to me before," she argued.

"Except kill you," Haruka said. Minas mouth dropped open.

"Was he that bad?" she yelped.

"No," Serena said. She did not want to get Mina involved with him anymore than she already was. Serena didn't want Mina to try to defend her and Diamond do something to hurt her.

"Mina Diamond was the one who put her in the hospital," Haruka said. Minas mouth dropped open.

"Serena is this true?" Mina asked. Serena grinded her teeth and glared at Haruka.

"No,"

"God damnit Serena they need to know!" Haruka said. "Quit trying to protect everybody. They can protect themselves,"

"So are you saying I can't protect myself?" Serena exclaimed. "I can protect myself!"

"I'm not saying you can't! I'm saying you need someone there to discourage him from comming on to you!"

"Why can't we just give Serena some kind of weapon or help her learn how to fight somehow so she can defend herself?" Rei asked. Haruka glared at her. A true friend was willing to protect the one that they love.

"If your not willing to protect her than-"

"I'm not saying I'm not willing to protect her. I am. I'm more than willing and I don't want to lose her. Don't think of her as a baby. Shes a strong girl," Serena beamed at her. At least somebody was on her side.

"Thank you,"

"I say that someone should be with you as much as possible but you learn to defend youreslf so that if it really comes down to it, you can do something about it," she turned to Haruka and Seiya. "Look guys. Obviously, this guy has taken advantage of her. I'm pretty sure she wants to be able to let him know that shes strong enough to not let him do whatever he did to her again. Let her fight her own fight so she can move on,"

"Reis right," Taiki said. "He needs to know that SHE can't be messed with. If she has a group of people standing in front of her all the time hes just going to think that all he has to do is get her alone and she'll be defensless. She needs to be able to stand up to him," Haruka stared off into space.

"Fine," Haruka said. "But you're not to be alone,"

"I can control my own life," Serena said. A long silence followed before Serena stood up. "I don't want to spend the rest of spring break fussing over him. I need to catch up in school anyways since I missed a couple days. Seiya, please help me with that," she said, standing up. Just then, another knock was heard at the door. Serena and Ami looked at each other and smiled.

"What is it with everybody showing up here?" Haruka asked. As Amy went to answer the door, Serena smiled and scooted behind Haruka.

"You forgot your birthday didn't you?" she said. Haruka looked at the door to see Amy slip out. Haruka barked out a laugh when she realized she did in fact forget her birthday. With all of the things that had been going on, Haruka didn't feel she had much time to think of anything else. Serena started laughing, all annoyed feelings towards her best friend fading away. "Well for your birthday me and Ami set you up on a surprise blind date," Haruka sighed.

"If you're going to try to set me up with a guy again-" Haruka began. Before Haruka came out as a lesbian, Serena had once stupidly tried to set her up on a blind date with a friend of Diamonds. The guy was a pervert and tried to make a grab at Haruka, which ended up with him recieving a jaw breaking punch in the mouth and Haruka nearly being charged with assult.

"Oh no its not a guy," Serena said. "Its a girl. Her name is michiru. Shes beautiful!"

"Theres lesbians here?" Haruka asked. In seattle, she didn't come across very many lesbians. The only ones she did come across annoyed the crap out of her.

"Are you kidding?" Yaten asked. "San Fransisco is the place where gay people are created. Its like, homo central. This is the place where there are anual gay pride parades where things get so colorful, you see nothing but rainbows for a week. Its-"

"Shut up Yaten," Rei said. Ami opened the door and brought in the most angelic looking person Haruka had ever seen. She stood tall with creamy white skin, aqua colored hair, and dark blue eyes. She wore a wise, sweet smile and had a modest, curvey figure. Beautiful wasn't even a word to discribe her. Haruka stood up and gave her the smile that had the girls who thought she was a boy stumbling over their words.

"I'm Haruka," she said, holding out her hand. The girl held out her own hand and firmly shook it. Her skin was soft, dainty, and silky smooth.

"I know," she replied. "I'm Michiru," she eyed Haruka up and down. "You are a looker," she said, giving Haruka a sweet, innocent smile. Haruka smiled back. She liked this girl.

"May I take you to lunch?" Haruka asked. Michiru shook her head.

"Its your birthday. I'm the one taking you to lunch," she said, leading Haruka out of the apartment.

"Those crazy kids," Seiya said with a smirk. "You think Haruka will like her?"

"Harukas perfect for her," Ami said, sitting down. "Serena and I told Michiru all about her,"

"When did you?" Seiya asked.

"The day before Serena went to the hospital," Amy said. "After she got into that fight with her dad, I called her and we were talking about life and I was telling her about my swim meet. I told her about Michiru and she told me about Haruka. We talked to Michiru on three way twice. It was kind of a last minute idea,"

"A good last minute idea," Serena her head on Seiyas chest. "I think she'll make Haruka very happy,"

* * *

A/N: Michiru was kind of a last minute idea I had. I wasn't planning on having Michiru in on the story but I love the idea of her and Haruka being togethr so I kind of threw it in. Please review and updates are comming up soon =]


	27. Chapter 27

Mina was laying on her stomach on Yatens bed, thinking of the events in the last almost five days. Serenas transformation had been nearly phenominal. There were even a couple times that day where Serena would just hug her randomly. It made Mina feel great knowing her sister was finally fixing herself up. Mina made a mental note to thank Seiya later for being Serenas trusted confident. Speaking of confidant...

She groaned and rolloed over, remembering Yaten telling her that she should tell someone about whatever had happened to her. The past few days, Mina had been trying to keep herself as busy as possible to avoid thinking about her encouter with her father. She didn't doubt that he felt bad about what he did. In fact, she remembered Haruka saying to her, a while before their move to San Fransisco, that her dad was a mentally sick controlling man. Mina, adoring her dad at the time, refused to believe it. Now that she thought about it, it all made perfect sense. Mina had always been the good girl. She always listened to her parents, so her dad never felt the need to get rough with her. Serena had usually been obediant untill Diamond came along. As their relationship progressed, Serena became more and more defiant (now, Mina realized, because she felt forced to by Diamond) and her dad felt like he was losing his hold on her. He beat her to show he was more powerful and that she needed to obey.

Her dad had forced himself on her because of her almost violent outburst. She had defied him. She had screamed at him, and had been ready to attack him. He had already pretty much lost one kid. He didn't want to lose his grip on the other. So he used the most violent way to show he was in control. He wasn't himself when he did that. When she remembered his eyes, they were the eyes of a maniac. He was not her father. But then again, she didn't know anymore who her dad was. She had no doubt that her father loved her and her sister. Haruka was right. He was mentally ill.

And Mina would not let him go to jail. Jail was a place where they kept people who were sane and knew exactly what they were doing. Her father was not sane. Mina sighed, and stood up. She needed to talk to Serena. Serena was a bit more stubborn though. She went through years of shit with him. She might not be quite as forgiving. She nearly tripped over Yaten, who was forced by Taiki to sleep on the floor. She smirked, remembering Taiki telling him he needed to be a gentleman and let the lady take the bed. Yaten had not been happy about that. She made her way to Seiyas room. Not to her surprise, Serena was laying, curled beneath Seiyas protective arm.

"Serena," she whispered, shaking her. Serena was up instantly.

"What do you want Mina?" Serena asked, wiping the sleep away from her eyes.

"I need to talk to you. About Dad," she said. Serena sat up, pushing Seiyas arm off her body.

"What about him? Did you hear from him?" she asked.

"No. Come here, lets talk outside," The girls headed to the kitchen, and fished out a carton of Yatens favorite mint ice cream. The grabbed two spoons and sat side by side on the table, silently eating the ice cream out of the carton, each wondering how to start the conversation. Finally, Serena began.

"Why do you want to talk about dad?" Serena asked, scooping some ice cream in her mouth. "I think Diamonds more of an issue right now,"

"But what about Dad?" Mina asked.

"Why do you care so much about him anyways?" Serena asked. "Hes the reason why we're staying here in the first place. He's the reason why mom left,"

"So you finally stopped blaming yourself?" Mina asked with a smile.

"Yes. I'm going to maky myself happy. I thought I made it very clear that I'm tired of being a pessimistic bitch all the time. Enough about my pathetic self. Why are you bringing up dad at two o'clock in the morning? I was actually beginning to get a good nights sleep,"

"Do you think he should go to jail?" Mina blurted out. Not exactly the way she planned. Serena frowned. Did she? Serena hadn't really thought of what would happen if she decided to tell someone what her dad did. Or, if she decided to tell somebody that he might have done something to Mina.

"Depends. What did he do to you?" Mina quickly took a spoonful of ice cream to buy herself some time. She had to tell somebody. It was eating away at her every time she paused for a moment to think. She was not nearly as good at hiding things as Serena was. In fact, Mina was not good at keeping things to herself. She had to let it out. And she would sooner let it out to Serena then Yaten. Yaten wasn't very forgiving. Serena, or at least the old old Serena, was pretty forgiving. And Mina had been seeing bits of that old old Serena. She sighed, and hoped that that side of her would show itself.

"We got into a fight after you stormed out. I started yelling at him and he..." Mina stopped. Serena had stabbed her spoon into the carton of ice cream and stared at her intensly. "He kind of...well-"

"Yaten told me about the bruises on your back. He said it looked like they were caused by the stairs at the house. He threw you on the stairs didn't he?" she asked. Mina nodded. "What else happened?" Serena had a feeling, though she didn't tell Yaten. Yaten would go apeshit.

"He...he made me do it and I didn't want to but-"

"HE RAPED YOU?" Serena roared, standing up with fire in her eyes. Mina felt her body tense at her raised voice and instinctivly backed away. She bit her lip as she saw Serenas eyes soften. Serena opened her arms and slowly walked towards Mina. She fell into her arms in a heap, crying. Serena stroked her head and gave her kisses on her forehead, just like Haruka did when Serena had first been forced to have sex with Diamond.

"I don't want him to go to jail," Mina sobbed. Serena frowned. "Hes sick Sere. He loves us but hes sick. He needs therapy not jail," she cried. Serena began to nibble on her lip. Mina was somewhat closer to their dad than Serena was. Serena knew that Mina wasn't stupid. Mina was a smart girl who was full of love and forgivness. Not only that, Haruka had also informed her that her dad was mentally ill and unstable. Serena sighed. She trusted her sister and her best friend.

"We'll make sure he doesn't go to jail. But we need to find him first,"

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Reviews make me smile =D


	28. Chapter 28

Serena stood underneath the scalding hot water in the shower. At this point, she was trying to sort out all of her thoughts and feelings. As of now, she had two major things on her mind that seemed to be preventing her from moving forward with her emotional healing. Diamond and her dad. The two people that seemed to constantly fight to keep her balled up in their fist. Serena was trying desperately to break free. Now that she thought about it, her dad had pretty much opened his fist to let her fly. He made virtually no effort to contact or do anything else. Wheather or not his sudden decision to let her go was out of guilt or fear of being caught remained a mystery. Then, there was Diamond. Serena gritted her teeth at the thought of him. Everyone was bending over backwards trying to protect her from him and they hadn't even thought (other than Raye and Taiki) that she just might be able to defend herself. Serena had endured the kind of pain that nobody should have to go through, yet she was still classified as weak. And it made her angry.

She slammed her fist against the wall

"Serena?" she heard Seiya call through the door. "You okay?" The only one in the condo was Seiya. Taiki had gone off to the library and Mina left with Yaten to try to locate on of their parents. Haruka was on another lunch date with Michiru, which Serena insisted that she do after she came that morning nearly gushing about how wonderful Michiru was.

"I'M FINE!" she yelled back at him. She felt herself grinding her teeth, an impulse she she had developed when she was thirteen whener she was angry or frustrated. She grabbed the razor and held out the arm that didn't hold the stitches. _One more time wouldn't hurt..._ She picked up Yatens silver shaving razor and pressed it as hard into her arm as she could, then dragged it across. The familiar searing pain felt almost amazing, and she felt a wave of built up stress, anger, and half a dozen other uncomprehensible repressed emotions drift away along with the blood. She dropped the razor when she suddenly realized that everyone was right. She was weak. With a cry of frustration, she opened the shower door and threw the offending razor out.

She was weak. Serena shut off the water and tried to stop the bleeding with a towel. The bleeding only seemed to grow and she could literally feel her life energy draining as the blood seeped out of her wound. Suddenly, the events five days ago replayed in her mind. The memory of her pounding the walls in frustration, then filling up the bathtub with burning hot water. The memory of her throwing off her jacket and slicing her wrist with the box cutter, as hard and deep as she could with only her baby in mind...

She didn't want to die. She was not going to be that close to death again. Never again.

"SEIYA!" she screamed, not even bothering to cover her naked body. "SEIYA HELP!" Almost instantly, she heard him trying to force the doorknob open. Serena unlocked it and quickly pressed the towel against her wrist again. He threw open the door.

"You oka-why are you still nake...oh my god Odango what did you do?" he cried in alarm as he saw the blood covered towel. Serena began hearing the screams of her sister when she found her in the tub. She began to cry.

"Seiya I don't wanna die...help me stop it please I don't want to die I can't," she sobbed. Seiya pulled the towel away and wiped off the blood. The cut looked deep, but it was nowhere near deep enough to kill her. He sighed in relief before taking a dry towel off the rack and pressing it against her arm.

"Odango its okay, you're not going to die," he whispered. "It won't kill you,"

"What if Mina finds out? Seiya I don't want her to cry again..." Serena said. Seiya kissed her face.

"Its okay Odango," he said, as he used his free hand to reach for the band-aids that were kept under the bathroom sink. He took out the biggest ones he could find and lifted the towel to see if he could cover it. Satisfied with the slowing of the bleeding, he took the band-aid and stuck them onto her arm. Serena continued to cry as an overwhelming feeling of guilt came across her mind. The guilty feeling flew through her body and she found herself sobbing harder.

"I'm weak Seiya," she cried, clinging to him. "I'm so-"

"You're not weak Serena," he said, suddenly very serious. "You had a weak moment, but you are not weak. Very far from it, as a matter of fact," he pulled her closer to him. and kissed her nose.

"I'm not very stong-"

"All the people I know put together have not gone through anything near what you've gone through. You met the devil himself, yet you're still alive-"

"Barely,"

"You're still alive," he said. "Even I underestimate you. You're an amazing person Odango," he said. "Truely amazing. You trust me right?" After a brief pause, she nodded. He smiled. "Then trust what I say. You're amazing and beautiful-"

"Look at me Seiya. I'm no-"

"You are. And you know what? I want you. I want to be with you," Serena looked at him, shocked. Here she was, bleeding naked in his arms on the bathroom floor and hes saying that he wants _her _to be his _girlfriend?_

That young man made no sense whatsoever.

"I want to be with you too," Serena said without thinking. He smiled and kissed her again. Why he would want to be with her though was a mystery that she felt wouldn't be selved. Well, at least for a long time. Seiya kissed her again when the phone rang. Seiya got up and tossed her a towel from the hamper next to the shower.

"Get dressed," he said. Serena nodded and stood up. "And if you ever feel like doing something like that again, please tell me," She nodded again, and wrapped herself with a towel before heading to Seiyas room. Seiya sighed and answered the phone.

"Seiya?" It was Haruka.

"Yup. Who did you think it was?"

"I couldn't tell. All of you sound like fags,"

"Ha ha Haruka. What do you want?"

"I found out how Diamond knows where everybody is all the time," she said. Seia began to tug at his shirt?

"You did? How?" he asked.

"By looking under my car after seeing him show up during my date. Or through the window at least. Theres a small black box underneath my car. Its a GPS navigator. It activates whenever the curns on. How, I don't know. But I bet my left breast theres one underneath your van. Go check,"

"I can't. Yaten took it,"

"Are you serious? I'm comming over right now," Haruka stated before hanging up. Seiya threw the phone across the room.

* * *

A/N: I decided to be nice and put two chapters up in one night. Yippee!

And please don't forget to review =D


	29. Chapter 29

"A GPS navigator?" Serena exclaimed, tightening her arms around herself. Before Haruka came, Seiya had given her his sweater to wear so she couldn't see her most recent wound. Thank god, because right now, Haruka was pacing angrily around the kitchen. Michiru was sitting next to Serena at the table, frowning in concern. She had no idea what was going on. Seiya was sitting on the table with a bowl of cereal sitting forgotten next to him.

"Yes a GPS navigator!" Haruka exclaimed. "Underneath my fucking car!" As soon as she walked in the door, Haruka literaly went into a screaming rampage. While Haruka was punching the wall and yelling about how stupid she was for not figuring it out, Michiru quietly explained to Serena and Seiya how they were walking back from lunch to find a white haired man crawling out from underneath Harukas car holding a screwdriver. He ran off before they got to the car and when Haruka went underneath it, she found a black box screwed underneath it. Inside was a small GPS navigator that Haruka reconized as something that was put underneath certain cars so they could be tracked if it were stolen. Whenever the car turned on, the navigator turned on.

Haruka was pissed. Michiru was worried.

"So does that mean he knows where we live?" Seiya asked.

"Quite possibly. We took your van to the resturaunt and he showed up remember? He probably does Seiya. We need to leave," Haruka said. She leaned against the refridgerator and tried to breathe slowly so she can piece her thoughts together.

"No!" Serena exclaimed. "We are NOT leaving and I am NOT running away!"

"You need to Serena. Its been made pretty clear hes dangerous," Seiya said gently. Serena glared at him.

"We are NOT leaving. Where the hell are we going to go anyway?"

"Why don't you call the police on him?" Michiru said. "Just call the police and have him arrested,"

"Diamond is someone I have to face. Police later. He hasn't done anything yet and the police won't do shit untill he has,"

"But Serena he has and he will and we need to make sure you-" Haruka ranted

"ENOUGH!" Serena screamed, grabbing Seiyas bowl of cereal and flinging it at Haruka. Haruka, with her quick reflexis, dodged the bowl. It flew harmlessly into the refridgerator and broke almost in half. Milk and bits of Fruit Loops showered the floor and Serenas sweater sleeve. Silence followed with Seiya biting his lip, Michiru looking back and forth between Serena and Haruka, and Serena glaring at Haruka.

"You should leave Michiru," Haruka said, biting the inside of her cheek. "If its okay with Serena, I can explain whats going on,"

"I don't care," Serena said as she took her focus to the floor.

"I'll be back in about forty five minutes," she said as she took Michirus hand and led her outside. They got into Harukas yellow convertable and as Haruka pulled out of the driveway, Michiru began to speak.

"Whats going on?" she asked.

"The white haired man you saw was Serenas crazy abusive ex and hes stalking her now in hopes to try and get her back," Haruka mumbled.

"Well shouldn't she be the one to handle it?" Michiru said. Haruka sighed.

"Hes did a lot of horrible things to her. She can't handle him alone," she said as she pulled out and began driving Michiru home. "I don't want her to handle him alone because he'll find a way to break her," Michiru reached over and rubbed Harukas knee. Haruka gave her a grateful smile.

"Look Haruka. If you insist she does things your way, shes just going to push you away. If she pushes you and that other man who was there away, then how are you going to be able to be there to help her if this ex boyfriend of hers comes around?"

"Its not as simple as him comming, being mean to her and her crying over it. Its much more complicated than that,"

"I'm pretty sure it is if he went as far as putting navigation systems underneath the cars, but you still need to let her handle it her way. If you keep protecting her, hes going to think that all he has to do is wait untill shes alone, then seize the oppertunity. Just leave the poor girl alone Haruka,"

"I can't. She's all I have and shes barely healing. She can't handle him right now," Michiru layed her head back on the seat. Haruka would figure it out soon enough hopefully.

"Lets relax and have some tea," she suggusted. "Perhaps that will soothe you," Haruka nodded and pulled into a coffee shop. While Haruka ordered, Michiru took a booth next to the store window. When Haruka brought the tea, the women began to chat, discussing life goals and dreams. Michiru expressed her desire to become a professional violin player while Haruka admitted to wanting to become a race car driver. At this, Michiru began to smirk.

"Professional race car driver hm?" she said, as she sipped the rest of her tea. "Have you done street racing?" At this question, Haruka puffed out her chest in pride.

"Of course I have. I'm the best in Seattle,"

"Oh really? Why don't you show me?" Haruka grinned and finished the rest of her tea.

"I would love to," The women went out to Harukas car, and Haruka pulled out of the driveway. As she drove through the streets, she slowly increased her speed and began weaving in and out of cars. The growing roar of the wind drowned out the sounds of the horns of angry drivers. Michiru laughed in delight as Haruka sped through the streets and up and down San Fransiscos famous hills. Finally, Haruka cane to a swift and sudden stop in front of Michirus apartment.

"Fun?" Haruka asked as she jumped out of the car. She went around to the other side and opened the door for Michiru.

"Quite fun actually," she replied with a smile. "I will watch you race when you get on the track," Haruka led her up to her apartment and kissed her hand.

"I'm glad I showed you a good time," she said. "If you don't mind me asking, will you play a piece for me on your violin the next time I come by?" Michiru nodded.

"Of course I will," she said. They shared a hug, then Haruka departed. She got into her car and silently drove back to the condo.

Michiru was amazing.

Haruka only knew her for a day, and she was mesmerized. Michiru was sweet and angelic. Intelligent and humble. She shared the same thrill in dangerous things Haruka did. Michiru was modest and confident. She was soft and tender... Haruka laughed at herself. Her sappy thoughts would make Serena and Mina proud. For awhile now, Serena had been trying to convince her to find a girlfriend. Of course, Haruka had too many things going on in her life for a girlfriend. She had dreams to acheave. She had her best friend to protect. She had a job she needed to do in order to pay her rent and other expenses. She simply had no time.

Now here she was, thinking a girl she barely knew was quite possibly the perfect one for her. Haruka was never much of a romantic thinker.

As she pulled into the condo, she felt her stomach drop to her feet and all blood and warmth leave her body.

There was an ambulance and two police cars parked in front of the condo. Haruka quickly parked in the nearest parking space.

Paramedics were pulling a stretcher out of the door. Haruka couldn't tell who it was.

"Oh my God," Haruka whispered as she jumped out of the car.

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A/N: Review!


	30. Chapter 30

Seiya silently began to pick up the chunks of the broken bowl and Serena took some paper towels to wipe up the mess. Seiya glanced at her and saw a look of extreme annoyance on her face.

"Cut Haruka some slack," Seiya said finally. Serena dumped the soaked paper towel in the trash. "We want you safe,"

"I can understand that," Serena said as she sat on top of the table. "But you guys don't realize its MY battle. This asshole destroyed me, killed my daughter, and is now hunting me down to the point where its pretty much stalking. I want to put a stop to this myself," Seiya dumped the remains of the bowl into the trash.

"Alright," he said finally. "I'll back off a little bit," a bright, grateful smile shone on Serenas face. "But as soon as it seems as if hes getting out of hand, I'll-mff," he grunted as Serena grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him down over her.

"Thank you," she whispered as she pulled him into a tight embrace. Seiya nuzzled her neck and began kissing her neck. Serena moaned when he kissed her sensitive spot, and began giggling when he dipped his head down and traced a little heart on her collarbone with his tongue. "We're going to get caught," she said in an amused voice.

"Let them enjoy," Seiya whispered in her ear. Serena laughed and began unbuttoning Seiyas shirt.

"Nice chest," she said as she ran her hands up and down the entire length of his torso.

"Nice tummy," Seiya replied as he slipped his his hands underneath Serenas tank top. Serena sat up and threw off Seiyas jacket before laying back down and pulling Seiya on top of her. As the couples little make out session intensified, they failed to hear the door open.

"Seiya! For gods sake not on the table! We eat there!" Taikis voice rang out as he looked at them with annoyance, then shock when he noticed that Serena was looking around for her shirt, which had apparently been discarded. "You guys would have had sex on the table?" Taiki asked in alarm, then turned away when she stood up. Ami tried not to laugh.

"Quite possibly. Why is that bad?" Serena replied. At the words 'quite possibly', Seiya silently cursed Taiki and Ami for barging in at the exact wrong moment.

"Because its on the table where everybody eats!"

"So?" Serena said.

"I do not want my food anywhere near anything that might have come in contact with Seiyas penis," Taiki said as he collapsed on the couch. Ami sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What about Yatens asshole?" Seiya asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Taiki asked, horrified. Serena and Ami burst out in laughter.

"Lets just say that about six or seven months ago, Yaten and I got drunk when you were with Ami, played Truth or Dare, and I dared him to stick the handle of the biggest toothbrush in the bathroom up his ass and said toothbrush happened to be yours?"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Taiki yelled. Ami covered her mouth and her face turned red from holding back laughter. Serena however, had burst into uncontrollable laughter. "THAT'S DISGUSTING! MY TOOTHBRUSH? I PUT THAT IN MY DAMN MOUTH!" Taiki gritted his teeth and stood up.

"I'm going to call Yaten and tell him to bring me a new toothbrush," he said. "I'll be in my room. I'll be out in a few minutes," Taiki disappeared into his bedroom and Ami burst into hysterical giggles.

"Did that really happen?" she asked. Seiya nodded.

"I have a video of it too. Go into my room and you'll find it in the top drawer of my dresser," Ami nodded and went back into Seiyas room. Serena sat on the kitchen chair and pulled Seiyas sweater back on.

"That is fucked up Seiya. Really fucked fucked up," she said.

"It would be fucked up if the part that went into his mouth was in Yatens ass rather than just the part he holds onto," Serena laughed and poured herself a cup of water. Seiya sat down and Serena looked into the hallway.

"I'm going to check on Ami. Shes taking a long time," Serena said.

"She probably found a book or something and is reading it," Seiya replied as he turned on the T.V and put it on ESPN.

"Ami?" Serena called through the door. No answer. Serena opened the door. As soon as she walked in, she heard the door shut behind her and lock. As soon as she turned around, she felt a strong hand slap over her mouth and push her onto Seiyas bed. When she looked up to see who it was, she saw the unmistakable white hair.

Diamond.

Serena struggled underneath him, but he shifted his weight on her so she couldn't move. She finally stopped and glared up at him. He leaned over so his shaggy long hair brushed against her forehead.

"What the fuck is wrong with you little whore?" he whispered fiercely. Serena scanned the room. She saw Ami sitting up next to the dresser, away from view. She wasn't moving. Serena bit down onto his finger. Diamond hissed and ripped his hand off of her mouth. She took this opportunity, sat up and pushed him off of her. When he fell, she jumped off the bed and went to Ami.

"Ami?" she whispered, trying to shake the girl awake. To her immense relief, Ami was breathing. Serena realized she was unconscious when she saw a white rag sitting in her lap. She yelped in pain when Diamond grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back. Ami slumped down to the ground.

"Serena? You okay?" she heard Taiki call through the door. Diamond jumped over to Ami and held an all too familiar small black gun to her head,

"You're fine," Diamond mouthed. With a sickening feeling in her stomach, she called through the door,

"Yeah. Ami and I are alright," she turned back and faced Diamond, who put the gun back in his pocket. "Now what the hell do you want?" she asked him in an angry whisper. Diamond smirked at her and sat on Seiyas bed.

"Come here," he said. Serena folded her arms.

"Why?" she asked. Diamond reached over, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her down onto his lap.

"I saw you with him," Diamond said into her neck. The sickening feeling turned into disgust. "Why were you with him?"

"That is none of your business," she replied angrily.

"It is my buisness when some guy has his hands all over what is mine. Why do you let him touch you like that?" he asked as he planted a kiss into her neck. Serena swallowed hard and gave him her harshest glare.

"I actually like him and he actually has respect for me. Now Diamond get the fuck out of here. Move on with your life,"

"I love you Sere. I can't. Its so hard..."

"You know damn well it isn't. You stay the fuck out of my life," she said as she tried to get up. Diamond pulled her back down.

"Its our life. You're mine. You promised me that you're mine. And I'm yours-"

"Oh shut up you sound like some lovesick idiot. Get away from me," she tried to stand up, but Diamond pushed her back on the bed.

"We're going back to Seattle," he said. Serenas mouth dropped open in shock. No way in hell! She shook her head and began to kick at him. He slapped her. She cried out in pain, and used all her strength to kick him off the bed. He landed on the floor with a thud.

"ODANGO?" she heard Seiyas worried voice yell through the door.

"I'm fine," she called through the door. The last thing she needed was Seiya and Taiki to burst through the door and to have Diamond pull out his gun.

"What was that sound?" he asked.

"I fell off the bed," she called back. Diamond grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the dresser. There was no way she could make an excuse for the sound of the picture frames falling and her pretty loud cry of surprise and pain.

"DIAMOND IF YOU'RE IN THERE I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Seiya roared through the door. Seiya then proceeded to kick at the door in attempts to break in. "OPEN THE DOOR!" Diamond grabbed her by her arms and pushed her towards the window.

"Out" he yelled to her. "Get out Serena go!" Serena shook her head. "If you don't get out I'll push you," he said with a dangerous glint in his eye. Serena threw her head forward, then back. Diamond yelled out in pain and Serena again through him off.

"YOU GET THE FUCK OUT!" she yelled at him. The door finally gave away under the force of Seiya and broke. Seiya pushed his way through, with Taiki close behind him. Seiya put himself in between Diamond and Serena.

"She does not want to go with you, shes made that very clear, and if you don't get out I wi-" Seiya was interrupted when Diamond kicked his feet out from underneath him. Seiya nearly fell into a shocked Taiki, and both men nearly tumbled to the floor. Serena lunged at Diamond, only to have him grab her by the arm and pull him against his chest. Silence filled the room as Diamond quickly pulled out his gun.

"You two will stay where you are," he said. "Serena, we're going back to Seattle," He pointed the gun at the still unconscious Ami. "If anyone moves, that girls blood will decorate the fucking wall," Taiki turned a sickly pale, and Seiya's mouth dropped open. Serena froze. She glanced up at Diamond for any signs of him not being serious.

There was none. Even Serena could tell he was dead serious. When Seiya looked ready to say something, Serena frantically shook her head. To her relief, Seiya stayed put and silent.

"Lets go," he said gruffly as he pushed Serena towards the door. She stopped and turned around to protest but stopped. Sitting on the bed was a tall girl with chocolate covered skin and rich, short brown hair. In her arms was what looked like a small baby dressed in green. The girl was bouncing the baby in her lap happily.

Kelly and Deonna.

Kelly, who had begged her for almost two years to get away from Diamond. Deonna, who was never able to be born because of him.

Serena blinked and Kelly and Deonna disappeared. She looked up at Diamond, who was glaring at her. She could see Ami crumpled unconscious on the floor. Taikis eyes darted worridly between her and Serena and Seiya, who looked near tears. She felt her built up anger, hate, and resentment force its way into her heart. She felt the monster inside her, dying to be released. She found herself looking at Diamond.

"GO!" he yelled.

She would never be his prey again.

Serena reached back and punched him as hard as he could. A loud explosion was heard and she faintly heard Taiki yelling. She couldn't understand what he was saying and at that moment, she didn't care. She felt Seiya pull her back away from Diamond, but she kicked him, and lunged for Diamond as soon as she felt Seiyas grip on her loosen. She used all her strength to push him back into the wall. He fell back, and Serena's monster went for the kill.

Serena snapped back into reality when she heard Seiya screaming at her to stop.

"You're going to kill him!" he yelled. She looked up at him, then back at Diamond. His face was covered in blood, and his green shirt was covered in fist shaped blood prints. He wasn't moving. When she looked at her hands she saw his blood. It took her a moment that her face was covered in her sweat and tears. When she looked back at Seiya, she saw him slowly reach for the gun Diamond had apperantly dropped. Serena pushed him out of the way and grabbed the gun.

"Give me the gun," Seiya whispered to her. He was unsure wheather or not she was back to a sane state. Serena shook her head. Instead, she got down on her knees and said, in an animalistic voice,

"It's my life," she looked back at Seiya. "It's my life,"

"Odango I kno-" He stopped when Serena pointed the gun to her head. "ODANGO DON'T!" he screamed. She turned around to face him.

"It's my life!" she yelled at him. "It's my life!"

"Odango please," he begged. Serena ignored him and instead, turned to face the unmoving Diamond.

"IT'S MY LIFE!" she screamed at his unconscious form. "THIS IS MY LIFE!" she screamed again, throwing the gun across the room. Seiya let out a huge sigh of relief before gathering a now sobbing Serena into his arms. When he looked over her, he saw Taiki on the phone. Taiki looked at him. 'Paramedics' he mouthed. Seiya nodded and looked at Ami. Taiki had her legs in her lap with Seiyas blanket wrapped around it.

"The bullet hit her in the leg," Taiki said. Seiya nodded. A few moments later, he heard the front door open and the voice of a man calling out to them.

"Back here!" Seiya yelled as he hugged Serena closer. Two paramedics came into the room and saw Ami and Diamond.

"Get me two stretchers," he said into his walkee talkee. As they were being loaded into the stretchers, Serena heard the sound of Haruka screaming at an officer to let her in. Serena looked up at Seiya and opened her mouth to speak. No words came. He looked down at her.

"Do you want to see Haruka now?" Seiya asked. Serena could only nod. Seiya pulled her closer and together, they went out to see Haruka.

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Review!


	31. Chapter 31

"LET ME IN!" Haruka roared, trying to push her way past the officer. At first, she had been as polite as she could, explaining that her best friend was in there and she needed to get to her. The officer though, had told her that there were two people seriously injured and that they had been taken to the hospital. The only one she knew so far who was injured was Ami, who had been put into an ambulance unconscious and with a bullet in her leg. Taiki had followed, but when Haruka tried to ask him what happened, he only stared at her blankly before following Amis stretcher into the ambulance. Haruka was now on the brink of tears.

"Let her in," another officer said. "The girl isn't talking. The boy said that she might help her," The officer blocking Harukas way in moved aside, and Haruka ran in to see Seiya sitting on the couch whispering to a trembling Serena, who was sitting in his lap.

"Kitten!" Haruka cried in relief, nearly throwing herself on her. Serena threw her arms around Harukas neck and began sobbing all over again. "Kitten what happened?" Haruka asked. Serena could only shake her head. Haruka looked over Serena to Seiya. _'What happened?' _she mouthed. Seiya stood up and motioned for Haruka to follow him in the hall. Haruka shook her head, determined to stay by Serenas side.

"She needs to explain to us what happened," a female officer said as she sat down in a chair opposite of the couch. "I'm Officer Grimauld by the way," Haruka tightened her hold on Serena. Seiya sat down next to them.

"Obviously, she is in no state to talk about it," Haruka said coldly. "Why don't you have Seiya tell you? Seiya were you there?" Seiya was about to respond when Officer Grimauld interrupted him.

"Yes he was there and he already told me what happened from his point of view. The other boy, Taiki right?" Seiya nodded. "Was there also," she continued. "Unfortunatly though he was in shock. He wouldn't talk," Harukas mouth dropped open. "What the hell happened?" she asked.

"Apperantly there was a break in. According to Seiya, Serena fought the intruder, who wound up shooting Miss. Mizuno in the leg. Both the intruder and Miss. Mizuno are being taken to the hospital,"

"How bad were they hurt?" Haruka asked.

"Miss. Mizuno took a bullet to her upper thigh...she'll need surgery to remove it but I'm pretty sure she'll be fine. The intruder had been beaten into unconsciousness," Haruka looked at Seiya and smiled. Seiya frowned. "I'm going to be taking statements from Mr. Kou as soon as he is able and and Miss. Mizuno when she awakes from her surgery. I need one from Miss. Tuskino here but she's not willing to speak," Haruka looked down at Serena, who looked at her with a pleading look in her eyes. Haruka gave her a slight nod.

"She doesn't want to talk about it quite yet. Would it be okay if she were to write out her statement and I can deliver it to the police station?" Officer Grimauld nodded.

"That would be fine," she said. Just then, the sound of the front door unlocking was heard. Officer Grimaulds partner stood up and answered the door. Yaten, Rei and Mina walked in, looking surprised, then worried when they saw the two officers.

"Whats going on?" Mina asked, taking in the apperance of the serious officer, Officer Grimaulds serious but friendly face, her sisters pale, tear stained face, Seiyas blank look and Haruka, who was still holding onto Serena with a protective look in her eyes. "Sere! Are you okay?" Mina ran over to Serena and pulled her into a hug. Rei followed and began gently stroking her hair.

"I'll leave explaining up to Mr. Kou here. Miss. Tuskino, please turn in your statement by tomorrow evening," Serena nodded. "Theres nothing much we can do here now. Mr. Kou and Miss Tenoeh, thank you for cooperating," Haruka frowned.

"What? No questions about Diamond?" Haruka cried. Officer Grimauld frowned.

"Was that who you think the intruder was?" Officer Grimauld asked.

"I already told you his name was Diamond," Seiya said. "Were you not listening?"

"I was Mr. Kou. Now because Miss Tuskino here seems to be in an unfit condition, I'm going to hold off questioning about this man untill tomorrow. I will be here tomorrow around three," she said. "Here is my card," She handed Seiya a buisness card, then she and her partner left.

"What happened?" Mina asked Serena. Serena responded by shaking her head and looking at Seiya. He took the hint.

"While we were here, Diamond showed up and Ami got shot in the leg by accident-"

"Where is she?" Rei cried.

"Shes in surgery and Taikis with her,"

"Why didn't he call me?" Yaten asked. "He should have called!" Seiya sighed.

"Taiki couldn't even talk to the police," Seiya said. "Every time they tried to ask him something he would stare at them and go back to Ami. They are going to wait untill after Ami wakes up to talk to him," When Mina opened her mouth to speak, Seiya cut her off. "Diamond shot her by accident. He was pushing Serena out of the room with the gun pointed at Ami. Odango jumped on him and he pulled the trigger,"

"How in the hell did he get in the house anyways? Tell me everything that happened," Haruka said. '

"Well Taiki was in his room and Ami went back into my room to find my camera. She didn't come out for a bit so Serena went back there to check on her and-"

"AMI DIDN'T COME OUT AND YOU LET SERENA GO BACK THERE ALONE?" Haruka yelled. At this, Serena jumped off of Harukas lap.

"I can protect myself," She growled. When Haruka opened her mouth to protest, Serena placed her hand on the wall above Harukas head. Then, she leaned in so that her face was about two inches away from hers.

"I DONT NEED YOU TO PROTECT ME!" she screamed. Then she stood up to full height, turned around, and walked back into the hall. After a few moments of stunned silence, a surprised and worried Haruka stood up to follow, but Seiya pulled her back down.

"Leave her alone Haruka," he said.

"I need to check on her. Let go of me," she replied, trying to stand up.

"No. Leave her alone. And you didn't let me finish what happened," Seiya said.

"I need to check on her. What if Diamond comes back?" Haruka said as she attempted to stand up. Seiya pulled her down. "Let go o-"

"Do you not remember what the officer said?" Seiya asked. "Diamonds in the hospital. Serena was the one who put him there!" Haruka stopped and stared at Seiya with an open mouth. Minas eyes grew wide, Yaten let out a low whistle and Rei smirked.

"I knew she had it in her. Told you guys she would be able to protect herself," she said.

"Are you serious? How did she do that?" Mina asked.

"He pointed the gun at Ami and he kept trying to push her out the door. She kept looking around and when he started yelling at her, she punched him. That set off the gun, Ami got shot, and I tried to pull her away from me. She started kicking me and pushing me away and when I let her go she attacked him. She beat the living shit out of him," Now everyone was staring at him with stunned and shocked expressions on their face. Seiya decided to continue. "She literally pushed him into the wall and started punching and kicking him. All he was really able to do back was punch her. She kept beating him untill he finally stopped fighting back. I had to beg her to stop otherwise she probably would have killed him,"

Shocked silence. Haruka fell back on the couch with her hand over her face.

"He can't press charges can he?" Mina asked. "What if he does? The court system can be pretty messed up sometimes," Mina said.

"We have so much shit on him," Haruka said. "He wouldn't dare. I'm going to check on Serena," Haruka said.

"Let me," Mina said. "Besides. I need to talk to her about our parents. We found mom,"

"I'll bring her out," Seiya said. Before anyone could protest, Seiya stood up and checked the bathroom. No Serena. He went back towards his room. He slowly opened the door to find Serena holding her ultrasound and kneeling in front of the wall where she had beaten Diamond. Drops of blood stained the carpet and the wall.

"You okay Odango?" Seiya asked, kneeling down next to her. Serena nodded.

"He wont get away," Serena replied, gently smoothing her finger over the ultrasound picture. "I'm pressing charges against him. Armed robbery, assult, rape, murder, attempted murder. I'm going to make sure that fucker is put away for life," Seiya hugged her tightly.

"He most likely will,"

"I'm sorry about acting like that," Serena said. "I shouldn't have reacted like that. It could have killed Ami,"

"She'll be fine though. And you stood up for yourself. I really don't think he'll go after you again," Serena stood up and put the ultrasound in her pocket.

"I want to see everyone," Serena said. When they walked out into the living room, Serena immediatly went to give Haruka a hug. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. Haruka kissed her on the cheek.

"Its okay. I heard what you did to Diamond. I'm proud of you," Haruka said as she hugged her tighter.

"I'm proud of myself. Can the conversation about this wait untill tomorrow? I don't want to talk about it right now," she said.

"Well lets talk about this," Mina said with a small smile. "I finally got ahold of Mom,"

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A/N: The next chapter will be the epilouge =)

Woohoo!


	32. Epilogue

_One Year Later_

Diamond was in prison. It will be thirty seven years before he has the possibility of parole.

And Serena was pretty damn happy.

The day where he broke in was the day she showed him who controlled her life. She gave him a broken nose, busted lip, black eye, cracked rib and jaw, and several bruises. She came nowhere close to killing him as Seiya tried to say. But it was good enough for her. Weirdly enough, Diamond had brought Serena closer to her mother and sister. She was finally able to express to her mom and sister exactly what he had done to her. Well, not really able. She was forced to tell them that way they wouldn't have to find out in court. It all turned out better. Her mother and sister grew a new found respect for her. Not only that, if it weren't for him, she would have the life she had now.

She was free and she now looked as good as she felt. Her skin was glowing in health. Her eyes, instead of focusing on the ground, now focused on the world ahead of her. She even stopped wearing makeup and more much brighter, colorful clothes. However, she always kept the little skull necklace the boy who had saved her in the parking lot gave her. She was sixteen years old, and she had every intention of enjoying the last two years of her teenage life with her sister, friends, and mom.

Unfortunately, they never found her dad and he made no effort to contact them. Surprisingly enough though, he had been making deposits into him and her mothers bank account. After a few months of family counseling, Mrs. Tuskino had finally explained why she ran.

She had gone to her parents house to try and figure out what she should do. Serena and Mina didn't understand at first, but then the counselor had explained that in some situations, people aren't thinking normally and they tend to do rash things, such as when Serena attacked Diamond. Serena was more able to forgive and empathize with her mom, but it took Mina longer to forgive. Once she and her mom made peace, family life improved drastically.

"SERENA!" Mina cried, jumping on her bed and tickling her. Serena woke up with a squeal and laughter.

"Mina what the hell do you want?" Serena asked, tossing a pillow at her.

"Michiru and Haruka want to celebrate their one year anniversary! Isn't that cute?" she squealed. "They're inviting all of us to a fancy restaurant! Lets go shopping!" Serena sighed, got up, and got dressed.

She was still with Seiya, as Mina was still with Yaten. Seemed kind of corny when Serena thought about it: Twin sisters going out with sweet hot brothers. She opened the doors and ran down the stairs where their mom was making breakfast. Serena bounced up to her mom and gave her a kiss.

"Hey mom!" she said. "Mina and I are going shopping for Haruka and Michiru's one year anniversery dinner!" her mom sighed.

"Alright honey," she said. After wolfing down pancakes, Mina and Serena left to go meet their friends at the mall.

"Mina!" Yatens voice rang out from the food court. Minas face lit up as she ran to hug him. Mina, although very good at bringing two people together, had never really been able to hold down a boyfriend for more than a few days. She and Yaten, surprisingly, had been together for over a year, and they adored each other. In fact, Mina had recently told Yaten about her rape and according to Mina, after she told him, Yaten had tried to go onto peoplesearch, determined to hunt him down. It took a lot of explaining on her part as to why she didn't want him to go to jail. Yaten was less than pleased, but reluctantly agreed to not persue him. When asked, Minas reason for telling him was "Things were advancing in their relationship and it was something she wanted him to know before it went to top leval"

Serena did not want to know what that meant. Unfortunatly, she found out when a couple weeks later, she walked in on Yaten and Mina. This resulted in her and Seiya standing at the door laughing and dodging various objects Yaten threw at them while her emberrassed sister hid under the covers.

Serena chuckled at the memory before sitting down on Seiyas lap.

"Hey there Odango," he greeted, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello there Seiya," she greeted back, batting her eyes sweetly.

"You're making me sick," Rei groaned, pretending to stick her fingers down her throat. "Go find a room,"

"Sure," Seiya said. "Yaten can we borrow your room? Seems like thats where all the good action seems to be," At this, Mina flushed and Yaten smirked.

"Sure thing. Maybe we can spice up your room a bit while your at it,"

"Thats disgusting," Rei said. "What do you think Seiya does in his bed? If you put a black light in there it'll probably look like some kind of blizzar-"

"I don't wish to discuss this," Ami spoke out.

"You heard the lady. Tone the rating down a bit. PG everbody," Lita said.

"Ami you need to get laid," Seiya muttered. This earned a slap upside the head from Taiki.

"Who said she hasn't been?" Taiki asked with a subtle smile. A deep red flushed across Ami's face.

"Taiki!" she hissed, slapping him on the arm. The group laughed, then begun to eat the corn dogs Taiki had ordered for them as a before-shopping snack.

_Life is good, _Serena thought with a smile. She bit into her corn dog, eager to begun her shopping.

_The End :]_

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A/N: Well, I'm done with the story finally. Woohoo! Originally I was planning to write more, but I figured I should just wrap up the story in one last chapter. Towards the end I felt like it was beginning to drag. Thank you for all of those who reviewed/added story to favorites and/or story alerts!

If you liked this story, keep a lookout for my next story. When I come up with a title, I will add another chapter to let you know what its called.

And it will be a Seiya/Usagi story :)

I have nothing against Mamoru, but Seiya and Usage would be much cuter =D


	33. Chapter 33

Hey there everybody :D

I just wanted to send you Usagi/Seiya fans this update to let you know that I have my new fic, starring this couple out. It;s called Surrender.

In A Tale Of Love and Pain, Usagi was the one who had been going through a hard time. In Surrender, it is the other way around and it is Seiya who needs Usagi. Well, I'm off to write another chapter :) Thank you!

-VoldemortsNipple

P.S. Right more starlight/senshi stories! The obvious Mamoru/Usagi and Senshi/generals are great, but come on! Seiyas a nice guy! He should have some more stories with him in and I'm pretty sure the lot of you agree.

I love you all!


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